Spain train crash live updates: At least 68 killed in high-speed train crash as Spain’s PM says ‘all of Spain is in mourning’

Key PostsTransport minister speaks on the cause of crashBy Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente said that the accident was caused by what he called the “inexplicable” order from a central command centre for Spain’s trains after a security system had failed. He said the train engineers were not to blame.Puente said that at 8:30am the security system on a stretch of 63 kilometers stopped working due to a computer malfunction, causing all trains on that stretch to stop. But the central command told the RENFE train to start running again without any speed restrictions, and it ended up colliding with the stopped IRYO train at 8:53am.Puente said that the train should never have been told to start moving again since there was still a “stop signal” active that line. And if it had, at least it should have been told to go at reduced speed.Puente said they were still studying information to see how fast the train was going, but it could have been at 200km/h for that stretch of the track.“I am not attributing responsibility to anyone, I am just stating the facts,” Puente said.ReutersLatest Posts4.28am‘All of Spain is in mourning’: PM vows full investigationBy Ellen ConnollySpanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced three days of national mourning following the deadly train collision, vowing to investigate the disaster and address any safety failures.“All of Spain is in mourning,” Sánchez said during a televised address near the crash site south of Madrid.He said the government would investigate the cause of the collision, which has killed at least 68 people, and take action if negligence or safety failures were uncovered.“If there was negligence, we will find out,” Sánchez said, speaking after travelling to the crash site.“If there have been failures in the security system, we will respond decisively.”4.25amWhat we know so farBy Ellen ConnollySpain is a country in mourning today after a high-speed train collision killed at least 64 people and injured more than 100 others.As rescue workers continue to search the wreckage, here is a recap of key events:At least 68 people have been killed and more than 100 injured after two high-speed trains collided south of the Spanish capital, Madrid.The Castilla-La Mancha regional government confirmed the revised toll, and warned that the number of fatalities could rise further.The cause of the crash, which sent the derailed carriages down a rural embankment near Urda, was not immediately clear.A train operated by state-owned Renfe struck the rear of another train operated by private company Iryo, which had stopped on the tracks. The Iryo train departed Madrid at 7.54am, bound for Seville, while the Renfe AVE service left six minutes later, at 8am, travelling in the same direction.The two trains were carrying more than 500 passengers combined at the time.It was the second deadly crash this year in Spain - and involved the same two rail operators. In January, a high-speed train crash killed 46 passengers.The latest collision is Spain’s deadliest rail disaster since 2013, when 80 people were killed in a derailment in the country’s north-west.A major rescue operation remains under way at the crash site near Urda, while hundreds of anxious families await news of their loved ones.Spain is set to begin three days of mourning. Emergency services climb through the wreckage where many passengers died.AP Photo/Manu Fernandez4.19amDeath toll climbs to 68By The death toll from Spain’s devastating high-speed train collision has risen to 68, with another 80 people injured, including five in a critical condition.Emiliano García-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, confirmed the latest figures as emergency crews continue their work at the crash site, south of Madrid.As our Europe correspondent David Crowe reported, two high-speed trains collided in central Spain on Wednesday morning (Thursday AEDT) in the province of Toledo.The accident comes with memories still fresh of another crash between high-speed trains in southern Spain in January involving trains from the same two companies.One train, run by the state-owned RENFE company, ran into the tail of the other train owned by private company IRYO that had stopped, knocking two of its cars off the track in a rural area between two villages.1 of 1