‘It all happened in a split-second’: survivors recount details of Spain’s second deadly train crash in 10 months

Josimar Medina woke a little before 9am on Wednesday to find himself airborne and hurtling through his carriage on the fast train from Madrid to Seville. "I remember flying through the air and looking for my girlfriend, who was also shooting through the air," said Medina, a 37-year-old tourist from Peru.

The couple, who were in the seventh carriage, survived the collision that killed at least 68 people and injured dozens more. "I saw people with cuts, people covered in blood, people missing limbs, and I saw one person who had nothing left below the chest," Medina recounted, wearing a T-shirt stained with blood from a young American man he helped move to safety.

Emergency Response

The crash occurred amid vineyards and olive groves near Urda in Castilla-La Mancha, where the state-operated Renfe train smashed into the back of a train run by private company Iryo. The local sports center was converted into a triage post as emergency services from Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid rushed to the scene.

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, visited Urda as the country entered mourning. "Mejor no verlo," said one local woman who had been driving survivors to town - "it's better not to see something like this. Again."

Survivors' Accounts

Fredrich and Arabella Barilea, a couple from the Philippines living in Dubai, were on the Iryo train when the impact occurred. "One guy was shouting, 'Get out! Get out! Another train could hit!'" said Fredrich. "It all happened in a split second," Arabella added. "The table we were sitting at just disappeared in the crash. I feel like we're on our second life."

Ata Yelkaya, a Turkish tourist, had decided to try the Iryo instead of his usual bus travel. "I woke up with a bump and hit my head on the seat in front of me," he said. "I'm from Turkey and I lived through the 2023 earthquake there, so I stayed calm and tried to think about what to do and how to get out."

Growing Questions

Wednesday's disaster stirs memories of the Adamuz rail crash in January, which killed 46 people. Local people have rallied to help, bringing food and water to a center for those searching for relatives, but as happened at Adamuz, solidarity is likely to turn to anger.

With a snap general election just a month away, many voters could use their votes to register their fury over another rail disaster. The "inexplicable circumstances" that led to the crash will need to be explained as swiftly and thoroughly as possible.