Spain train crash investigators hunt for remaining bodies in wreckage as death toll rises

A teacher, student, police officer and journalist are among the victims of a deadly train crash that killed 41 people in Spain.

Among the dead are the Zamorano-Alvarez family, who are reported to have lost four members including a husband and wife, their 12-year-old son and a nephew, according to relatives on Facebook.

The sole survivor of the family was a six-year-old girl who has been taken into the care of her grandmother, mayor José Carlos Hernández Hernandez told reporters on Tuesday.

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Authorities said bodies still remained under the wreckage after a high-speed train operated by Iryo derailed and crashed into an oncoming train run by Alvia, pushing it off the tracks near Cordoba.

Around 300 passengers were on both trains in total. The death toll rose overnight as another body was recovered and at least 12 people remain in intensive care.

Spain deployed heavy machinery to recover the bodies of missing people amid the wreckage, with emergency services using cranes to gain access to the worst-hit carriages on Tuesday.

At least three bodies had been seen still trapped in the wreckage two days on from the crash, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told state broadcaster TVE late on Monday.

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Óscar Puente, the country’s transport minister, emphasised that the death toll "is not yet final".

Married couple Oscar Toro, a journalist who had a history of university teaching, and his wife Maria Clauss, a photojournalist, were on board the Alvia train. Their deaths were confirmed by their journalists’ union.

Spanish National Police confirmed that an officer with the service was also among the dead. Local media reported that the man had become a father just 18 months before his death. The 27-year-old driver of one the Alvia train was also killed in the crash.

Emergency services used heavy machinery overnight and in the early hours of Tuesday to level the ground around the front carriages of the Alvia train, which had plunged down a 4-metre (13.1 ft) embankment, and the rear carriages of the Iryo train, the Andalusian regional government said in a statement.

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Technicians investigating the cause of the deadly Spanish train disaster identified a faulty joint on the rails, a source briefed on the preliminary probe said.

Experts on site highlighted wear on the joint between sections of the rail, known as a fishplate, which they said showed the fault had been there for some time, the source told Reuters.

The faulty joint created a gap between the rail sections that widened as trains continued to travel on the track, but an official reason is yet to be confirmed.

King Charles released a statement about incident in a post on his social media account on Tuesday.

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“My wife and I have been profoundly shocked and saddened to learn of the appalling train accident in Southern Spain and of the many lives so tragically lost in such a disaster,” he said.

“We offer our deepest possible sympathy to all those who have suffered the heartbreaking loss of their loved ones and our special thoughts remain with those who have been terribly injured in this dreadful accident.”

Spain began three days of national mourning on Tuesday, after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez vowed to “uncover the truth” of the incident. King Felipe and Queen Letizia visited the site and met with emergency services undergoing work among the wreckage.