The audio of the train driver from Iryo to Adamuz: "We've had a problem with the train."

MadridThe Investigation into Sunday night's train crash in AdamuzThe tragedy, which has already left 43 dead, more than a hundred injured, and some forty missing, continues. Moments after the Adamuz train accident, the driver of the Iryo company contacted the Adif control center in Atocha to warn that he had experienced a "coupler" near the town in Córdoba province. The communication, recorded on the train's black box and published by [unclear - possibly "new trains" or "trains"]. Eldiario.es, includes the first description of what happened, when the driver still did not have a complete perception of the derailment or the extent of the collision with the other train involved.

The day after the publication of this audio recording of the Iryo train driver, The Country Another statement has been published from the Alvia train conductor involved in the crash. "I've been hit on the head. There's blood on my head. I don't know if I'll be able to reach the driver," says the conductor, who is in shock and was contacted by another technician from the Atocha control center after they detected that the train had stopped and were unable to communicate with the Renfe driver. They called him twice without success because he was already dead. According to information from The CountryThis call to the Alvia train was made in parallel with the one to Iryo, which would confirm that when the Italian company's driver contacted Adif, the two trains had already collided and he was unaware of it.

Doubts about the first audio

The audio published by Eldiario.es The audio had raised questions because the train driver didn't report a collision but rather a "coupling," when at the time he made the call, the Alvia train should have already collided with the Iryo. In a second call, with the train already stopped and the emergency brake activated, the driver reported that part of his train had encroached on the adjacent track and requested the immediate halt of rail traffic and the dispatch of emergency services. And here comes the most perplexing part of the audio: from the Atocha control center, he was told that "no train is arriving." So, what about the Alvia train? Had it already passed? Were they unaware of it?

In an interview on Telecinco, the Minister of Transport addressed these questions, explaining that when this conversation took place, the collision with the other train had already occurred. This version would be confirmed by the audio published this Wednesday by The Country"There's no train arriving, of course, because the train had already passed, and the Iryo driver didn't see the Alvia train because it was dark," the minister explained. According to Puente, this is one of the things that also happened to the passengers on the Iryo train, since the first carriages remained intact, unlike the last ones, which derailed and collided with the other train.

This is the same argument made by the president of the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF), Ignacio Barrón, in an interview on Antena 3. According to Barrón, it's "relatively normal" that the Iryo train driver didn't notice the impact of the Alvia train, and it's quite possible that when he called for help a second time, what he must have noticed, he explained, was a very strong braking. In any case, the president of the CIAF stated that, even if the Alvia train hadn't already passed, the three or four minutes between the two communications are "insufficient" to warn any train that the track was obstructed.

The investigation

At this time, all hypotheses are open, according to the Moncloa Palace. However, the investigation teams working on the ground have focused on possible anomalies in the infrastructure, after detecting several breaks in the rail roots of the section where the accident occurred. This Wednesday, the Spanish government reported that the CIAF (Railway Accident Investigation Commission) has requested information from Adif, the company responsible for the infrastructure, regarding "train traffic records for the two days prior to the accident" and will carry out "inspections of the wheels of other trains that previously traveled through the same section." The objective? The investigators want to determine whether the breaks detected in the rail were a "cause or consequence" of the accident. Therefore, they want to examine whether the trains that ran before the Iryo have marks on their wheels that would indicate that these breaks already existed before the accident. Barrón pointed out in the interview that "what seems most likely at this point" is a break in the rail or a weld. A catenary snag—the terminology used by the train driver—would have caused the control center to detect a drop in voltage. He also said that it needs to be verified that 20 seconds elapsed between the derailment and the arrival of the Alvia train.