At the Instituto de Medicina Legal de Toledo, 65 autopsies had resulted in 12 confirmed identifications. More than 60 professionals were working to speed up the process. The identification work included forensic examination and DNA comparisons, with relatives waiting for officials to confirm identities.
Castilla-La Mancha president Emiliano García-Page said the verified death toll stood at 69, based on information confirmed by the judicial authority and the Guardia Civil. He said further deaths could not be ruled out as identification work continued. More than 180 people were reported injured, including 18 in very serious condition.
Page explained that the count referred to complete bodies. During recovery work, teams had also found 31 bags containing partial remains, making victim identification more complex. Authorities had received 70 missing-person reports. DNA-collection points were opened in Madrid, Seville, Córdoba and Toledo to support the identification process.
The crash occurred at about 8:53 a.m. on 28 October near kilometre point 118 of the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, close to Urda, Toledo. A Renfe AVE struck the rear of a stationary Iryo train. The two trains were carrying more than 500 passengers: 397 on the AVE and 147 on the Iryo. Initial reports said the AVE was travelling at more than 100 km/h; the cause of the collision remained under investigation.
The Guardia Civil was examining the operational sequence alongside the independent technical inquiry by the Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes Ferroviarios. Investigators were looking at signalling and train-protection systems, including LZB and ASFA Digital, and at the reported 40 km/h restriction before the collision. Investigators had not established these technical issues as final causes.
The gap between the number of deaths and confirmed identities left families waiting for news. An earlier report described the search after 68 bodies had been found, when only two victims had been identified.
Ricardo, whose brother had been missing since the collision between the AVE and Iryo trains, was among those waiting outside the institute. He said relatives had been asked to wait while officials sought certainty before confirming identities. Ricardo said that 40 families were awaiting news and that only two had been contacted in six hours.
In a later update, the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla-La Mancha maintained the toll at 69 deaths and reported 76 missing-person complaints. It said autopsies had been completed on all 69 deceased and that 27 identifications had been communicated to families.
