Investigation Finds Rail Damage Likely Behind Spain's Deadly Train Crash

MADRID, Jan 24 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- A cracked rail is likely to have caused the train crash that killed 45 people in southern Spain last Sunday, according to preliminary findings released Friday by the Commission for the Investigation of Railway Accidents (CIAF), reported Xinhua.

The report said an  IRYO high-speed train – operated by Spain’s private high-speed rail company, IRYO, which runs services between major cities – derailed after passing over a section of track that had fractured, near the town of Adamuz in Cordoba province.

After derailing, the rear coaches of the IRYO train came off the tracks and were hit at high speed by a RENFE train – Spain’s state-owned rail operator – traveling in the opposite direction from Madrid to Huelva on a parallel line.

"Based on the information available at this time, it can be hypothesised that the rail fracture occurred prior to the passage of the IRYO train involved in the accident and, therefore, prior to the derailment," CIAF said in a statement.

Most of the 45 victims were aboard the second train, many of them residents of Huelva. A total of 123 people were injured in the collision, the commission said.

Investigators found uniform-sized notches on the right-hand wheel treads of the IRYO train, consistent with the wheels striking the top of a broken rail.

Passengers had earlier reported strong vibrations moments before the derailment.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has pledged a full investigation into the tragedy, saying the government would "assume full responsibility" while prioritising support for the injured and the families of the victims.

Spain will hold a state funeral for the victims in Huelva on Jan. 31. 

--BERNAMA-XINHUA