Recordings have emerged indicating that a traffic controller instructed a driver to resume normal speed in the lead-up to Spain's fatal train crash, according to NU. The controller has since been questioned by the Guardia Civil, de Volkskrant reports, and the Spanish minister has described the incident as a human error, according to AD.nl.
Coverage of the recordings by De Telegraaf quotes the instruction as telling the driver to restart at the usual speed. The published accounts do not specify the exact timing of the exchange or which service it concerned.
The scale of the disaster is severe. NOS reports at least 68 people have died and 107 are being treated in hospital. The rescue operation was set to continue through the night, according to the same outlet.
The minister's characterization of the crash as a human error, reported by AD.nl, places the focus of the investigation on the actions of those directing rail traffic. The questioning of the controller by the Guardia Civil, as reported by de Volkskrant, indicates that the inquiry is examining individual decision-making alongside the audio evidence now in the public domain.
Officials have not, in the reporting summarized here, confirmed a final cause, and the accounts of the recordings are based on published excerpts rather than a complete transcript.
What to watch next: whether investigators release further details from the controller's questioning and the full audio, and whether the minister's account of a human error is formally confirmed as the inquiry proceeds.
