Urda recovery restarts after crane crew shortage halts overnight work

Crane crews resumed removing wreckage from the Urda rail crash at 8am on Sunday after a shortage of operators halted work overnight. The stoppage came despite a judge’s order to provide enough staff and relief shifts to keep the operation running.

A Renfe AVE and an Iryo train collided near Urda, in Toledo province, on Wednesday 28 October, killing 69 people. Thirteen of the dead were still awaiting identification in Saturday night’s update, as teams continued searching the wreckage for remains.

The investigating judge at the Orgaz court issued the urgent staffing order on Saturday afternoon. It was notified to the crane company contracted by Adif and Renfe that day, with the aim of keeping carriage removal going through the night of 31 October into 1 November.

Castilla-La Mancha’s High Court said the company did not have enough operators to maintain the work. The judge wants any remains still at the scene recovered as quickly as possible so they can be returned to families.

Searches continue as carriages are lifted

Moving the damaged carriages gives search teams access to ground concealed beneath the trains. By Saturday, five carriages had been moved using three large cranes: three from the Iryo train and two from the Renfe AVE.

Guardia Civil spokesman Pedro Pablo Garrido said specialists and search dogs examine the area as the wreckage is lifted. About fifty officers were still at the site early on Sunday, according to El Español.

Police had remained on the ground during the overnight crane stoppage, searching for remains and gathering evidence under artificial lighting, El Correo reported.

Thirteen victims still awaiting identification

The Centro de Integración de Datos recorded 56 identifications in its Saturday-night update. Families had been informed of 51 of them, while five notifications remained outstanding. The death toll of 69 remains provisional.

Forensic doctors had completed all 69 autopsies, according to El Correo. Fingerprints had established the identities of 52 victims and DNA analysis had identified four more. The report said remains of 36 victims were available to their families.

The same update listed 54 Spanish citizens, one French citizen and one Portuguese citizen among those identified. El Correo reported that the remaining identifications depended on international cooperation. The data centre believed those still unidentified were foreign nationals.

Thirty-one injured people remain in hospital

The regional government said on Sunday that 31 people were still being treated in four Castilla-La Mancha hospitals, La Vanguardia reported. Thirteen were in intensive care and 18 on ordinary wards.

Toledo’s university hospital was treating 18 patients, seven of them in intensive care. Six patients were at Mancha Centro in Alcázar de San Juan, six in Ciudad Real and one in Albacete. Since Wednesday, the region’s hospitals had treated 110 people and recorded 79 discharges.

Court seeks to protect victims and families

In a separate order, the judge restricted the collection and publication of information and images concerning victims and their relatives. The court said the measure was intended to protect their privacy, dignity and integrity and prevent further harm.

It allows the release of information needed to identify victims. The full text of the order has not been made public, El Correo reported, leaving its precise scope unclear. The judicial investigation remains subject to secrecy.

The Guardia Civil said on Sunday that it had completed the collection of passengers’ belongings from the two trains. Renfe and Iryo will return the recovered items to their owners, according to El Español.