King Felipe VI has underlined that the investigation opened after the serious railway accident in Urda (Toledo) must serve to clarify "how and why" this "catastrophe" has occurred and has insisted that "the measures that must be adopted so that this does not happen again will have to be studied".
These words were spoken alongside Queen Letizia, visibly moved, after remaining more than an hour and a half at the University Hospital of Toledo, where both visited several of the injured admitted there to personally convey their support to them.
Felipe VI has recalled that, as a country, "we are once again suffering a hard blow" and has called to "keep moving forward with that pain", without ever setting aside "the wound left by so many people who have lost their lives, who are missing from us, who are missing from their families, who are missing from the whole country".
For this reason, he has appealed to the need for society to remain "going together and united", facing loss and suffering, but also with "dignity and rigor" in the face of a tragedy of this magnitude.
Faced with the "anguish and sadness" generated by the accident, the monarch has highlighted that "the most important thing is to accompany and give affection to the injured and to all those who accompany them". Likewise, he has expressed his respect and his profound sorrow for the fatalities and for their loved ones.
The King has also conveyed "enormous thanks" to all the professionals and volunteers who have intervened in the emergency, as well as to those who continue working to rescue and identify the people who still remain missing or pending being located, and to those who continue attending to the injured, both on the physical and psychological level, "doing everything possible to encourage their families".
After more than an hour and a half of touring different areas of the health center, Felipe VI has apologized for the delay in appearing before the media, explaining that "we wanted to dedicate a reasonable amount of time to the families we have been able to greet and to the injured who are being treated here".
During his appearance before the press, the monarch came to confuse at one point the railway accident in Urda with that of Adamuz, a slip that he corrected immediately afterward, already before the journalists, following the indications of Queen Letizia.
MORE THAN A HUNDRED MEDIA OUTLETS
At the entrance to the hospital's Emergency Department, more than a hundred media outlets gathered, having waited for the arrival of the Kings, as well as numerous citizens and curious onlookers who came to witness the visit.
Felipe VI and Letizia entered the center after 3:30 p.m., with the aim of not interfering with the shift change of the healthcare staff, and concluded the visit shortly after 5:00 p.m.
Upon their arrival at the doors of Emergency, the monarchs were received by the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page; the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Milagros Tolón; the mayor of Toledo, Carlos Velázquez; the Minister of Health, Jesús Fernández, and the Government delegate in Castilla-La Mancha, José Pablo Sabrido.
Numerous citizens and hospital workers recorded the Kings' entrance to the healthcare center with their mobile phones. The monarchs were welcomed with applause and with shouts of 'Long live Spain' and 'Long live the King', which were also repeated on departure, at the end of the visit.