Experts investigating the cause of a train crash in Spain that killed 40 people have found a broken joint on the tracks.
The tail end of a train heading from Malaga to Madrid derailed at 19.45 on Sunday, colliding with a train heading from the capital to Huelva.
Investigators at the scene found some wear at the joint between the rail sections, known as a plate, which they said had been there for some time, a source with knowledge of the investigations told Reuters.
They found that the faulty joint had created a gap between the rail sections which widened as trains continued to run along the track, which was refurbished in May as part of a €700m (£608m) project.
Technicians believe the faulty joint is the key to identifying the exact cause of the high-speed crash, the source added.
The first carriages of the derailed train, operated by the Spanish company Iryo, passed over the gap in the tracks. But the eighth and final carriage derailed, taking the seventh and sixth carriages with it, the source said.
Credit: Civil Guard
Authorities have yet to determine an official cause of the crash, with Oscar Puente, Spain’s transport minister, calling the collision “really strange”.
The Iryo train was less than four years old and passed an inspection on January 15.
Álvaro Fernández Heredia, the president of Renfe, the operator of the second train, ruled out the possibility of human error or excessive speed.
The speed limit on the line is 250 km/h (149 mph), while the trains were traveling at 210 km/h and 205 km/h when they collided.
In the months leading up to the accident, the company that manages Spain’s rail infrastructure warned of at least eight technical incidents on the high-speed line.
Most of the problems were related to the signaling system, although there were also problems with overhead power lines and other infrastructure.
The government was asked about these issues last summer and responded by saying it had addressed two “technical incidents affecting signaling systems”.
Credit: Civil Guard
In a statement, Iryo said it “deeply regrets what happened” and activated “all its emergency protocols”.
Authorities said 20 seconds passed between the Iryo train derailing and the subsequent collision, leaving the driver of the second train – who died in the crash – with almost no time to react before the impact.
Mr. Heredia said the track-based signaling and safety mechanisms designed to detect a busy track do not have time to activate.
He also warned that determining the exact cause of the crash could take several days and that the circumstances were “rare and difficult to explain.”
The investigation is being led by the Commission for the Investigation of Railway Accidents, which operates within the Spanish Ministry of Transport.
A separate judicial investigation was also launched by a court in Montoro, Cordoba.
Juanma Moreno, regional president of Andalusia, said: “It is likely [that more dead will be found] when you look at the metal table that is there. The firemen did a great job, but unfortunately when they get the heavy equipment to lift the carriages, we are likely to find more victims.
“Here at ground zero, when you look at this mass of twisted iron, you see the violence of the impact.”
Mr Moreno said authorities were also searching the nearby area. “The impact was so incredibly violent that we found bodies hundreds of meters away,” he added.
Video released by Spain’s Guardia Civil showed the sides of the worst-hit carriages ripped open, with train seats lying on the surrounding gravel.
An aerial view of the crash site released by Spain’s Guardia Civil – Material / Guardia Civil/AFP via Getty Images
A carriage lay on its side, bent around a large concrete pillar, with debris scattered around the area.
“There were times when we had to remove the dead to get to the living,” Cordoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Onda Cero radio.
Javier Mesones, a 36-year-old painter from Adamuz, said he heard about the accident on a WhatsApp group and set out with a friend to see if he could help.
The Guardia Civil wouldn’t let them access the crash site in their car, so the pair returned with a quad which became an unlikely rescue vehicle.
“There were people struggling to get away from the wreckage and lying injured so I pulled them onto the front stand of the quad and got them up the slope to safety – about 15 people,” Mr Mesones told The Telegraph.
“It was dark, sirens were blaring, but what I saw was a catastrophe, a bloodbath. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” he added.
As well as pain from cuts and injuries, passengers suffered from cold and shock on a night when temperatures in the crash area dropped to 2C.
Agustín Pérez, another resident of Adamuz, broke a fence to allow vehicles to access a path that runs parallel to the railway to allow access for ambulances and rescue teams.
The 44-year-old owner of a wildlife tour company said: “The thing that hit me the hardest was the screams of pain from the carriages.”
In the midst of the chaos, rescuers from the Guardia Civil found a six-year-old girl wandering alone with only a few scratches on her head.
On Monday, the remaining four members of the girl’s family traveling home to Punta Umbría in Huelva were found dead.
A sports center in Adamuz was turned into a makeshift hospital, and the Spanish Red Cross set up a help center for emergency workers and people seeking information.
“The scene was terrible. It was terrible,” Rafael Moreno, the mayor of Adamuz, told reporters. “People asking and begging for help. Those leaving the wreckage. Images that will always stay in my mind.”
Spain’s King Felipe VI expressed his condolences, adding that the royal household aims to visit Adamuz in the coming days.
“I understand the desperation of the families and the number of people injured in this accident and we are all really concerned,” he said.
Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, visited the scene on Monday – CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP via Getty Images
On Monday, the Spanish flag was flown at full-mast outside Madrid’s Parliament as Pedro Sánchez, the country’s prime minister, visited the crash site.
Spain has invested decades in high-speed trains and currently has Europe’s largest rail network for trains over 155 mph, with more than 1,900 miles of track, according to the European Union.
Sunday’s crash was the first fatality on a high-speed train since Spain’s high-speed rail network opened its first line in 1992.
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