Train crash in Spain: American, Japanese and Canadian citizens among the dead, authorities say | Spain

Four U.S. citizens, one from Canada, one from Japan, one from Argentina, one from Mexico, one from Tunisia and one from the Czech Republic were among 69 people killed in last week’s high-speed train collision in Spain, authorities said.

Wednesday’s disaster – one of Europe’s deadliest rail accidents of the century – saw victims’ relatives endure an agonizing wait as forensic teams identify the dead, sometimes from individual body parts.

A legal body responsible for identification work, made up of police and forensic experts, announced the latest 10 confirmed foreign victims in a statement on Sunday evening.

She had already announced the death of a French and Portuguese citizen, as well as that of 54 Spaniards.

All but three of the victims have now been identified, the statement added.

Three missing persons reports remain active, authorities said. They concern two Australians and a Japanese citizen.

“The families contacted having expressed their wish to go to Spain to carry out personal identification, we are awaiting their arrival in the country,” the press release said.

It is the second high-speed train accident in Spain this year and raises new questions about the country’s rail safety, following a January accident in the southern region of Andalusia that killed 46 people.

The latest disaster occurred when a service from state operator Renfe slammed into the back of a stationary train owned by Spanish company Iryo, outside the central village of Urda, about 130km south of Madrid.

The failure of an automatic safety system stopped all trains on a 63km stretch of track, but a control center allowed the Renfe service to resume its journey while the other train was stationary.

The tragedy occurred a month before the November 29 general election in which socialist leader Pedro Sánchez will seek to overcome unfavorable polls and extend his mandate by eight years.