A Sardinian is among the five Italians involved in this morning's deadly train accident in Spain, where the collision between two high-speed trains resulted in at least 68 deaths, according to the latest official toll, and dozens more injuries. The compatriot, originally from Sassari and living abroad, is in good condition. Three other Italians, from Bergamo, Rome, and Cosenza, respectively, did not suffer serious injuries. A woman from Pistoia remains missing, according to the RAI Tuscany news program TGR (Rai Regional News) on its website.

The collision occurred at 8:54 a.m. on the high-speed line between Madrid and Seville, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, near Toledo. According to the reconstruction provided by Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente, a Renfe train struck an Iryo train that was stopped on the tracks.

The tragedy is believed to have been caused by a computer communication system failure and subsequent human error at the control center of ADIF, the railway infrastructure manager, at Madrid's Atocha station. Around 8:30 a.m., the minister explained, the LZB control system at Toledo's Urda station failed due to the failure of three network computers, leaving a 63-kilometer stretch of the high-speed line without safety equipment. The malfunction caused the automatic shutdown of the six trains traveling on the stretch at the time, including the two involved in the accident.

At 8:36 a.m., according to Minister Puente, the control center authorized the Renfe train to resume its journey, despite the Iryo train being stopped ahead, at the entrance to Urda station, and the traffic light being red. Over the next 18 minutes, the Renfe train traveled 25 kilometers, reaching speeds of 200 kilometers per hour, before crashing into the other train. "There was time to correct the error" at the Atocha control center, the minister stated. But this did not happen.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced three days of national mourning: "We will investigate thoroughly, and if there has been negligence, it will be known."

(Unioneonline/D)

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