Spanish authorities have identified all 69 victims of the Spain train crash involving two high-speed trains last Wednesday, around 150 kilometres south of Madrid, after confirming the identities of the final three people killed.
According to the team of police officers and forensic experts responsible for identifying the victims, 54 were Spanish nationals and 15 were foreign citizens.
The foreign victims included four US nationals, two Australians, two Japanese citizens and one national each from Argentina, France, Canada, Mexico, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Tunisia.
How the collision happened
A train operated by Spain’s state-owned Renfe collided with the rear of a train belonging to private operator Iryo, which was stationary on the same tracks.
The Iryo train, operated by a subsidiary of Italian state-owned group FS (Trenitalia), had been forced to stop because of a fault in the signalling control system.
For reasons that remain unknown, the control centre allowed the Renfe train to continue along the same tracks where the other train was standing.
Spain records second deadly rail disaster in 2026
The collision was Spain’s second major rail disaster in 2026. In January, 46 people were killed in another train accident in Andalusia, in the south of the country.
The latest crash occurred during the campaign ahead of Spain’s parliamentary elections scheduled for 29 November.
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