Audio recordings reveal decisions made moments before deadly train crash in Spain

New audio obtained by Spanish media reveals that the operator of a stopped train called a control center to say she could not restart the train as another behind it sped ahead in its direction. The resulting crash of the two high-speed trains Wednesday killed at least 69 people and injured dozens more.

Many questions remain about the failures that led to one of Spain’s worst transportation disasters in decades, and whether something could have been done to prevent the crash. Audio recordings of communications between the train operators and staff at a control center in Madrid shed light on the decisions made in the minutes before the trains collided.

Spain’s transportation minister, Óscar Puente, said Wednesday that a security system stopped working because of a computer malfunction, causing multiple trains on the line to stop at about 8:30 a.m. local time. With the computer system down, rail traffic was then handed over to the control center in Madrid.

At approximately 8:36 a.m., the control center authorized a state-owned Renfe high-speed train to resume its journey, without speed limitations, despite the fact that there was a stationary ‌train from private rail company Iryo on the tracks ahead, Puente said. An…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world