Rail fracture likely occurred before train crash in southern Spain, investigators say

MADRID, Jan 23 (Reuters) – A fracture in the rail appeared to have occurred before a high-speed train derailed in southern Spain last Sunday, rail accident investigating body CIAF said in a preliminary report published on Friday. 

Sunday’s deadly collision in Adamuz, Cordoba province, killed 45 in one of Europe’s worst train accidents. A first train belonging to private consortium Iryo derailed and smashed into another oncoming high-speed train from state-owned rail company Renfe. 

“Based on the information available at this time, it can be hypothesised that the rail fracture occurred prior to the passage of the Iryo train involved in the accident and, therefore, prior to the derailment,” read the CIAF report, posted on the body’s website.

CIAF said the causes for the breakage had yet to be established and nothing had been ruled out.

Reuters wrote on Tuesday that investigators had identified a broken joint on the rail track in an exclusive report.

The Transport Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Iryo’s majority owner, Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato, declined to comment on the report.

Investigators found uniform notches on several of the wheel treads on the right-hand side of the Iryo train, according to the report.

The marks were consistent with the wheels striking the top of a rail, and a visual comparison suggested the wheel notches match damage seen on the broken rail section at the derailment site, it added.

CIAF said it had also found similar wheel damage on other trains that passed through the area before the crash.

The report’s findings must be confirmed by further calculations and detailed analysis, CIAF cautioned.

(Reporting by David Latona and Jesús Calero; Additional reporting by Giulia Segreti in Rome; Editing by Pietro Lombardi and Sharon Sngleton)