Ten Foreigners Identified Among 69 Dead in Urda Rail Crash

A legal body composed of police and forensic experts announced late Sunday that ten foreign nationals died in the high-speed train collision near Urda. The victims included four U.S. citizens and one each from Canada, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Tunisia, and the Czech Republic. These confirmations bring the total number of identified foreign decedents to twelve when including a Frenchman and a Portuguese national identified in prior announcements.

The identification process has been arduous, with forensic teams often relying on individual body parts to establish identity. The authorities noted that 54 Spaniards have also been confirmed dead. Of the 69 total fatalities, only three victims remain unidentified. Active missing person reports currently cover two Australians and one Japanese citizen.

Families of these three individuals have requested to travel to Spain for in-person identification, according to the Sunday statement. Authorities are currently awaiting their arrival to proceed with those final confirmations. The accident occurred when a state-owned Renfe service struck the rear of a stationary Iryo train outside the village of Urda, located approximately 130 kilometers south of Madrid.

An automatic safety system failure initially halted all trains on a 63-kilometer stretch of track. However, a control center authorized the Renfe train to resume its journey while the Iryo service remained stopped. This incident marks Spain's second high-speed train collision this year, following a crash in Andalusia in January that killed 46 people.

The disaster has intensified scrutiny of rail safety protocols in the country. The event is scheduled to occur one month before the general election on November 29, where Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez seeks to extend his eight-year premiership despite unfavorable polling.