Investigators have identified a possible reason for a collision between two high speed trains in southern Spain.
On Sunday evening, an Iryo train collided with an Alvia express train operated by state rail company Renfe in Adamuz in Córdoba province, Andalucia, killing at the least 45 people and injuring 292.
A probe launched into the rail accident – Spain’s worst for the reason that Santiago de Compostela high speed derailment in 2013 – has focussed on a defect within the track as a possible wrongdoer.
With human error on each drivers ruled out, investigators imagine a fractured section of rail sparked a deadly sequence of events which caused each high speed trains to profession into one another inside 20 seconds.
Iryo train 6189 was travelling from Malaga to Madrid when it derailed at 7.43pm and was hit moments later by the Renfe train travelling in the wrong way from Madrid to Huelva.
Preliminary findings show that markings were discovered on the wheels of the several carriages of the Iryo train, consistent with the 40cm break in a bit of track which experts imagine likely fatigued over time.
By the point the sixth carriage passed the defective track head, it completely gave way, derailing the last cars and leaving them obstructing the adjoining line where they’d collide with the opposite oncoming train.
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With each trains travelling at greater than 200 kilometres per hour there simply wasn’t time to stop either of the vehicles and forestall the tragedy from occurring.
A minimum of three other trains that had travelled through the identical section of line within the hours leading as much as the crash were found on examination to have the same dents on their wheels.
The rail samples at the moment are being further tested at a specialist metallographic laboratory.
Several possible explanations exist for the faulty track, including a producing defect or an impact from one other train.
In a press conference on Friday, transport minister Oscar Puente said the newest findings weren’t ‘definitive’ but were a very important update.
Opposition parties have blamed the disaster on a failure to adequately put money into infrastructure.
Spanish railway infrastructure manager Adif said that the section in Adamuz had been upgraded last May and had been inspected several times since, most recently on January 7.
A black box recording of the conversation between the Iryo driver and an operator in Madrid revealed the motive force was unaware of the severity of the emergency after he had derailed.
On the tape, the control room operator also assures him that ‘no other trains were arriving’ in the realm, also unaware that the Alvia train had already collided.
One other controller was chatting with a staff member onboard the Renfe service sure for Huelva, on which the train driver had already been killed.
In a chilling moment, she is heard repeatedly telling the control centre: ‘I actually have blood on my head.’
Amongst survivors was a six-year-old girl whose parents, brother and cousin had all died within the crash The family had travelled to the capital to observe a football match and the Lion King musical.
A missing dog which was travelling on the Iryo train was later found alive by firefighters on Thursday.
Spain’s high speed network is the world’s second largest with greater than 3,000 km of track in operation, handling greater than 25 million passengers annually.
The incident was certainly one of at the least 4 across the Spanish network this week, as Storm Harry battered much of Catalunya causing a commuter train to derail in Gelida, killing the motive force, on the outskirts of Barcelona on Tuesday.
Heavy rain was considered behind the sudden collapse of a wall causing the Rodalies train
Local trains across the north east region of Spain were suspended for several days while the infrastructure was inspected following the torrential rain, with disruption continuing on most lines this weekend.
One other Catalan commuter train derailed between Blanes and Massanet-Massanes.
In a fourth incident, several people were injured after one other train hit a construction crane in Cartagena, Murcia.
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