Andalucía now has 16 fatalities in the Urda (Toledo) railway accident, which occurred last Wednesday, October 28, when a Renfe AVE train collided with another convoy from the Iryo company. The disaster, one of the most serious recorded in Spanish high-speed rail, has so far left 69 dead and more than 200 injured, while identification work and the investigation to clarify the causes of the collision continue.
The two trains had left Madrid and were bound for Sevilla, a circumstance that explains the high number of Andalusian passengers or passengers linked to this community among the victims. According to the information gathered by Europa Press, the latest confirmations of deaths have progressively raised the number of affected people related to Andalucía, with particular impact in the provinces of Sevilla, Málaga, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva and Cádiz.
Among the victims are people of different ages and professions, from business executives and members of the security forces to students and workers who were traveling to visit their families or fulfill work commitments. Some of the identifications have arrived after several days of uncertainty, during which relatives had spread appeals to try to locate the missing passengers.
Fátima Báñez and the father of actor César Vicente, among the deceased
One of the confirmed victims is Fátima Báñez, former Minister of Employment and Social Security during the governments of Mariano Rajoy and president of the Fundación CEOE. The politician from Huelva, 59 years old, was traveling aboard the Iryo train that was hit by the Renfe AVE. She was scheduled to take part in Sevilla in a business event organized by the Andalusian employers' association.
Her death has prompted numerous expressions of condolence in political and business circles, where Báñez developed much of her professional career after leaving the Government. A native of San Juan del Puerto (Huelva), she was minister between 2011 and 2018 and later assumed the presidency of the Fundación CEOE.
Among the deceased is also the father of the Sevillian actor César Vicente, known for his participation in films such as Pain and Glory, by Pedro Almodóvar, and Los Tigres, by Alberto Rodríguez. The actor confirmed the news through his social media with a farewell message addressed to his father, after the hours of uncertainty that followed the accident.
Another of the victims is Antonio Vázquez, agent of the bullfighter Pablo Aguado, whose death was confirmed by his son, Francisco Vázquez, and his brother, Curro Vázquez. The family reported that it had received official confirmation from the authorities after two days of waiting.
"After two very hard days, of great uncertainty and bewilderment," the relatives received the news of the death, according to a statement in which they also thanked the expressions of support and affection received.
Sevilla loses several security force officers and other travelers
The province of Sevilla is among the most affected by the accident, with several deceased linked to its municipalities and to the security forces. Among them is José Manuel Chacón, 31-year-old civil guard, assigned to the Judicial Police Technical Unit in Madrid, who was traveling toward the Andalusian capital. The officer had five years of service and was one of the two Sevillian civil guards whose whereabouts were unknown after the crash.
Also deceased is Juan José García Palacios, civil guard native of El Palmar de Troya, as well as Iván Romero Ramos, 42-year-old national police officer and resident of Alcalá de Guadaíra. The death of the latter was confirmed by the mayor of the municipality, Ana Isabel Jiménez Contreras, who conveyed her condolences to the relatives and close ones.
Among the victims linked to Sevilla is also David Benítez, 38-year-old engineer born in Huelva and resident in the Andalusian capital. He also maintained a close relationship with Chiclana de la Frontera (Cádiz), especially with its brotherhood environment. He was traveling in one of the AVE carriages that collided with the Iryo train.
The list of the deceased also includes J. A. S. F., a resident of El Castillo de las Guardas, and David Martínez Méndez, a 25-year-old young man from Madrid with family ties in Sevilla. Martínez’s family had issued a plea to locate him after the accident and later confirmed his death through a statement in which they thanked the support received during the days of searching.
The confirmations have caused deep shock in different Sevilla towns, where families had kept hope of finding their loved ones alive while identification work advanced.
Málaga, Córdoba and Granada also confirm victims of the accident
Málaga has also confirmed the death of David Reina, 22 years old, a Renfe technician who had studied railway Vocational Training in the province. The young man was traveling on the AVE with the intention of spending a few days with his family. During the days after the accident, his relatives mobilized to try to obtain information about his whereabouts, until his death was finally confirmed.
Another of the victims linked to Málaga is María de los Ángeles M., a resident of Cuevas de San Marcos and owner of a hostel. Although she was originally from Madrid, she had been living for approximately five or six years in this Málaga town, where she had established her personal and professional life.
In Córdoba, among the dead is Francisco José Barbero Liébanas, 32 years old, who was traveling from Madrid to his hometown to visit his family. The young man was a student at the Universidad de Jaén and maintained ties with Bélmez de la Moraleda, a municipality in Jaén province from which his maternal family comes.
A 26-year-old young woman with family ties in Rute (Córdoba) has also died; she was traveling to Sevilla for work reasons together with several colleagues. Her family had remained awaiting news since the moment of the accident, after contact with her was lost.
For its part, Granada has confirmed the death of a 51-year-old businessman, Francisco J. R., known as Curro. Although he lived in Madrid, he maintained close family and friendship ties with the province of Granada. He was traveling on the Renfe AVE that collided with the Iryo convoy.
Rota confirms the death of Cristina Ferris after several days of uncertainty
One of the latest confirmations corresponds to Cristina Ferris Villanueva, a resident of Rota (Cádiz), whose death was announced by the Town Council of the locality after several days without news of her whereabouts.
Ferris was traveling on the crashed AVE and her family had circulated various messages requesting information in an attempt to locate her. The confirmation of her death brought an end to a search marked by uncertainty since Wednesday morning.
The Town Council of Rota publicly expressed its condolences and conveyed its support to the relatives and friends of the deceased woman, as well as to the rest of the people affected by the railway tragedy.
Cristina Ferris also had ties to the University of Seville, where she had studied. The academic institution joined in the expressions of condolence and recalled her professional career in the health field.
56 of the 69 fatalities from the Urda accident identified
The identification of the victims continues to be one of the main tasks of the authorities. According to the latest data released by the Data Integration Center (CID), as of this Saturday the identity of 56 of the 69 deceased people had been confirmed, including the 54 Spanish victims and two foreigners.
The identifications have been carried out mainly through fingerprint analysis and DNA tests, with the participation of forensic doctors and specialists from the Guardia Civil. The teams are working to complete the pending procedures and relay the confirmations to the families.
The Urda accident surpasses the one that occurred last January 18 in Adamuz (Córdoba) in number of fatalities, where 46 people died and another 152 were injured. Both tragedies, recorded with barely nine months of difference, have reopened the debate on the safety of the Spanish railway network.
While work continues in the area of the disaster, the authority in charge of investigating railway accidents is analyzing the circumstances of the collision to determine why Renfe's AVE ended up crashing into the Iryo train, which remained stopped on the track.
For now, the provisional toll remains at 69 deaths, of which at least 16 have origin or close ties with Andalucía. Behind that figure are families from different provinces that, after several days of uncertainty, have received confirmation of the death of their loved ones.