Spanish authorities are investigating why a high-speed Renfe train was cleared to proceed before it struck the rear of a stationary Iryo train Wednesday morning, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens more near Urda in Toledo province, about 80 miles south of Madrid.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the collision appeared to stem from an “inexplicable” human decision compounded by a computer failure at the command center that manages Spain’s rail traffic. According to Puente, the center experienced a computer malfunction before an operator authorized traffic to resume.
“It was the control center, through its operators, that made the decision to resume traffic, under circumstances that, from our point of view, are inexplicable,” Puente told reporters. He later added: “Clearly, it was a wrong decision.”
Puente said officials had identified the person who allowed the state-operated Renfe train to keep moving even though the private Iryo train had already stopped. He said he had not yet spoken with the control-center operator, who will be subject to whatever the investigation determines.
The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha said in a social media post that 53 people were still receiving medical treatment. Earlier in the day, the number of people hospitalized had reached 107.
Renfe suspended rail services between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia following the crash.
The collision is now Spain’s deadliest train accident since a 2013 crash in Santiago de Compostela killed 80 people. It also follows a deadly January crash in Adamuz, Córdoba, involving high-speed trains run by the same two companies; that accident killed 46 people and injured 122.