Five Victims Identified After Spain’s Urda Train Crash; 48 Autopsies Completed

Forensic teams had identified five of the 69 people killed in the train crash near Urda, in Spain’s Toledo province, by Thursday evening, according to sources at Castilla-La Mancha’s High Court. The Institute of Legal Medicine of Toledo and Ciudad Real had received all 69 bodies and completed 48 autopsies following the October 28 collision. The five identifications, involving three women and two men, were made through fingerprints by the Guardia Civil’s Criminalistics Service, and relatives had been notified, the court sources said. More than 30 professionals were working on the process, including forensic doctors, technicians, criminalistics specialists and staff from the National Institute of Toxicology. Teams were also analysing DNA samples provided by relatives. The court sources reported 70 missing-person complaints: 38 in Toledo, 23 in Madrid, 7 in Seville, and 1 each in Logroño and Ciudad Real. Two people previously unlocated had been found alive. Three psychologists were supporting families, while the Military Emergency Unit provided logistical help at the Toledo and Ciudad Real forensic facilities. On October 28, the court activated Spain’s mass-fatality forensic and scientific-police protocol. The investigating judge also restricted unauthorized access to the crash area for two kilometres in both directions, barred removal of objects and scene photography, and ordered recovered train recorders to be kept in custody. The court said the restrictions sought to “preserve the evidence, proof and indications.” The judge requested traffic records from the Atocha control centre and relevant Adif protocols. The case is being handled by seat 2 of the Civil and Investigating Section of the Orgaz Court of Instance.