A French national is among the 69 victims confirmed dead following a high-speed train collision in central Spain earlier this week, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Saturday, October 31. The deadly crash occurred on Wednesday when a high-speed train traveling from Madrid to Seville struck a stationary train near the village of Urda in the province of Toledo.
“We are in constant contact with her family to whom we offer all our condolences,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that authorities had previously reported being without news of several French nationals on Thursday. “France expresses its very deep emotion and sends all its thoughts to the victims, the injured and the families of this terrible accident.”
Investigators are continuing efforts to establish the precise cause of the catastrophe, which ranks among the deadliest rail disasters in Europe this century. Authorities confirmed that post-mortem examinations for all 69 victims have been completed. Meanwhile, repair operations on the rail line remained underway on Friday, October 30, between the municipalities of Mora and Orgaz.
Residents and local officials gathered on Saturday in Urda, a community of approximately 2,500 residents near the crash site, to attend a memorial mass at the packed Church of San Juan Bautista. Archbishop of Toledo Francisco Cerro addressed grieving attendees by comparing the aftermath of the tragedy to “a Good Friday for us all,” acknowledging that no words could offer adequate comfort to the bereaved.
The memorial service was also attended by Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page and Urda Mayor Manuel Galán. Speaking to public broadcaster TVE ahead of the service, Mayor Galán described the local population as deeply shaken, suffering intensely, and in urgent need of community support.
