Spanish authorities have identified 12 foreign nationals among the 69 people killed in last week’s high-speed train collision. The victims include four Americans, one Argentine and one Mexican, officials said Sunday. Brazil’s foreign ministry also reported that a Brazilian national was among those injured.
A judicial body established to identify the victims had previously announced the deaths of one French citizen and one Portuguese citizen, alongside 54 Spaniards. The other foreign victims reported Sunday were French, Canadian, Japanese, Portuguese and Czech nationals, as well as the two Latin Americans and four Americans.
All but three victims have been identified, the body said. Authorities are still investigating three missing-person reports involving two Australians and one Japanese national. The families contacted have asked to travel to Spain to complete the identification process in person, according to the statement.
The collision happened last Wednesday, when a Renfe train struck from behind an Iryo train that had stopped on the same track in Toledo province, about 150 kilometers south of Madrid. The Iryo train had stopped after a computer failure in the signaling system. An automatic safety-system failure halted traffic along a 63-kilometer stretch of railway, but a control center authorized the Renfe train to resume its journey while the other train remained stopped.
The crash was Spain’s second rail accident this year, following a January incident in Andalusia that killed 46 people. It is also among the worst rail accidents in Europe this century.
Sources: Folha Mundo.