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Greater than three dozen individuals had been killed as two high-speed trains collided in southern Spain.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
At the least 40 individuals have died in a prepare accident in Spain that left greater than 100 injured. Some are nonetheless in severe situation. The accident Sunday night time concerned two high-speed trains touring in reverse instructions. We’re joined now by Miguel Macias from Seville in southern Spain, near the place this accident occurred, Hello, Miguel.
MIGUEL MACIAS, BYLINE: Hello, Ailsa.
CHANG: So this collision, it occurred alongside the principle line that connects Andalusia, the place you might be, to Madrid, proper? Are you able to simply inform us what’s the newest so far as we all know?
MACIAS: Effectively, there’s nonetheless loads that’s unknown – most significantly, the reason for the accident. However the particulars are devastating. Along with those that died, dozens of survivors are nonetheless in hospital. A few of them are nonetheless combating for his or her lives. So, sadly, the demise toll shouldn’t be last. The accident occurred when a northbound high-speed prepare operated by a personal firm derailed at greater than 120 miles per hour. A number of the vehicles fell into one other observe and crashed into one other prepare, which was touring south, precisely the wrong way, at excessive pace as effectively, and this final one operated by Renfe, the state-owned prepare firm. However the factor, Ailsa, is that – that everybody is speaking about in Spain is how unusual this accident is.
CHANG: Unusual? Unusual in what approach?
MACIAS: Unusual as in, it’s a full thriller right now. And it’ll take days, if not weeks, to seek out out what occurred. Final night time, Transport Minister Oscar Puente spoke to the press and was one of many first one to level out a few of the contradictions.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
OSCAR PUENTE: (Talking Spanish).
MACIAS: “The accident is tremendously unusual,” Puente stated, because the trains had been touring on a straightaway part of the road which included the north- and the southbound tracks. That part of the tracks we simply talked about had been renovated in Might 2025. Additionally, each trains had been touring beneath the pace restrict, so that does not appear to be the difficulty right here. Iryo, the operator of the prepare that derailed, says that their prepare was inspected simply 4 days in the past and that it was made very just lately, in 2022, so prime expertise. This is the corporate’s president, Carlos Bertomeu, talking to the press immediately.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CARLOS BERTOMEU: (Talking Spanish).
MACIAS: He appears as baffled because the minister when he stated that in a straightaway part and the truth that it was not the primary automobile that derailed however the final vehicles of the convoy. He is clear – it is a unusual accident.
CHANG: So scary. Effectively, are there at the least some few clues that may assist us perceive what might have occurred?
MACIAS: There are some clues which can be starting to be recognized. For instance, it was the final two vehicles of the prepare that derailed that fell onto the parallel observe. And 20 seconds is the time that will have taken for the 2 trains to come back into contact – not practically sufficient time for a prepare at that pace to cease, after all. Additionally, to be cautious – we do not know if there’s any connection right here – however prior to now yr, Adif, which is the corporate that handles upkeep of all prepare tracks in Spain, had pointed at issues in areas that embrace the place the place the accident occurred on Sunday. However these issues had been resolved.
CHANG: Effectively, this prepare line, which, as I discussed, connects Seville and Madrid, it was the primary high-speed connection in-built Spain, is that right?
MACIAS: Sure, certainly. It was 1992. The world expo in Seville was the explanation for bringing high-speed rail to Spain. Slowly, different cities within the South had been linked to Madrid as effectively, however all of these particular person traces merge right into a single one which goes north, and that connection occurs within the area of Cordoba, the place the accident happened. It is value noting, too, that for many years, excessive pace in Spain was the monopoly of Renfe, the state-owned firm. However in 2019, personal operators had been allowed into the market. So high-speed prepare visitors from Andalusia to Madrid has elevated considerably prior to now decade.
CHANG: That’s NPR’s Miguel Macias in Seville, Spain. Thanks a lot, Miguel.
MACIAS: Thanks.
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