The Guardia Civil resumed this Saturday, October 31, the search work in the zero zone of the Urda (Toledo) railway accident, where last Wednesday two high-speed trains of Renfe and Iryo collided. The agents continue to search the site of the accident to locate possible biological remains or missing persons, while they advance in the gathering of evidence that will make it possible to clarify the circumstances of the tragedy, which leaves 69 dead and dozens injured.
According to sources from the Guardia Civil confirmed to EFE, the work was resumed early in the morning and will continue "in the same line as yesterday". The device deployed on the ground includes specialized units in search, criminal investigation and victim identification, which work in a coordinated manner with the forensic services.
The Guardia Civil searches for biological remains and new evidence in Urda
Among the mobilized teams is the Guardia Civil canine service, whose agents work with specialized dogs to inspect the accident area and try to locate biological remains or possible missing persons. The search tasks continue several days after the collision, while the investigators examine the scene of the accident.
The Judicial Police has also returned to the scene of the events, in charge of continuing to gather evidence and relevant data for the investigation. The agents work on reconstructing what happened and on collecting information that may prove decisive in clarifying the causes of the crash between both convoys.
For its part, the Guardia Civil Forensic Service maintains its collaboration with the Institute of Legal Medicine of Toledo, where the identification work of the deceased victims is being carried out. These tasks are fundamental to confirm the identities and officially communicate the deaths to their relatives.
36 of the 69 fatal victims of the accident identified
The death toll from the Urda railway accident remains at 69 people, according to the latest official data. The Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Toledo and Ciudad Real has already completed all the autopsies, although the process of identifying a large part of the victims is still ongoing.
According to the latest update from the Integrated Data Center (CID), released during the night of Friday, forensic teams have managed to identify 36 of the deceased persons. Of these, the authorities have officially communicated 27 identifications to their respective families, corresponding to 18 men and nine women.
Identification tasks continue to be one of the priorities of the operation, especially for the families who are still waiting for news about their loved ones. The complexity of these procedures makes it necessary to carry out various checks before officially confirming the identity of the deceased.
34 injured remain hospitalized and 15 remain in the ICU
The railway tragedy also keeps dozens of people hospitalized. According to the latest data provided by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, 34 injured people remain hospitalized this Saturday in four hospitals in the autonomous community, five fewer than during Friday.
Of the patients who remain hospitalized, 15 are in intensive care units (ICU) and another 19 are hospitalized in conventional beds. Since last Wednesday, the healthcare centers of Castilla-La Mancha have treated a total of 110 people affected by the accident, of whom 76 have already been discharged.
The distribution of the hospitalized patients is as follows:
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Hospital Universitario de Toledo: 18 hospitalized people, eight of them in the ICU and ten on the ward.
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Hospital Mancha Centro de Alcázar de San Juan: nine hospitalized, three in intensive care and six in conventional beds.
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Hospital General Universitario de Ciudad Real: six patients, three in the ICU and another three on the ward.
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Hospital de Albacete: one person hospitalized in the intensive care unit.
Investigation continues to clarify the causes of the accident
While the hospitals continue caring for the injured and the forensic teams advance in the identifications, the investigation into the causes of the railway accident remains open. The presence of the Judicial Police and the Criminalistics specialists at the scene of the collision will make it possible to continue gathering evidence that will help reconstruct the events.
The priority of the authorities continues to be to locate any remains that may remain at the scene of the accident, complete the identification of the victims, and provide information to the affected families. The Urda crash, with 69 dead and more than a hundred people treated in hospitals in Castilla-La Mancha, has become one of the most serious railway tragedies in the recent history of Spain.