Toledo sets church service for Urda crash victims

A church service for the 69 people who died in the Urda crash will be held at Toledo Cathedral on 12 November at 19:00. Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chaves set the date at a news conference.

Two fast trains, an AVE and an Iryo, hit near Urda in Toledo province on 28 October. The crash killed 69 people, and another 110 got care at hospitals in Castilla-La Mancha for injuries of mixed severity, Diario de Sevilla reported.

The church and families

Cerro Chaves said the whole Toledo diocese would join the service to pray for those who died and stand with their families. He said families had time to hold their own funerals first and called the wait “prudent.”

This is a church service, not a state funeral; El Correo said the government left the choice to families and set no date. No state funeral followed the Adamuz rail crash, after some families said they had not been asked for their consent.

Who plans to attend

The Royal Household said King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia would go. Regional officials said the Castilla-La Mancha president, Emiliano García-Page, would go too. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said he would attend. Reports had not said if Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez would go. PP sources hoped other parties and prime minister candidates would attend too.

The King and Queen visited Toledo the day after the crash; they saw injured people in hospital and spoke with staff. They also went to the El Buen Pastor church house, where they spoke with some families of people who died or were missing.

The house helped people hit by the crash; director Marta Gómez said about 400 stayed overnight during the week and nearly 1,000 got care there. She said between 50 and 60 people were helping those affected.

Sources: Diario de Sevilla, Andalucía Información, La Vanguardia and El Correo