Mass held in Urda for 69 killed in train collision — Korea Herald

A memorial Mass was held in the village of Urda in Spain’s Toledo province for 69 people who died after a high-speed train collided with a stationary train. Local residents and officials gathered for the service, Korea Herald reports.

Mourning in Urda

The Church of San Juan Bautista was filled with people, while dozens more residents listened to the service outside. Those present included the president of the Castile-La Mancha region, Emiliano García-Page, and Urda Mayor Manuel Galán.

Archbishop of Toledo Francisco Cerro said there are no words capable of comforting those who have lost loved ones. He stressed that the families of the victims had not been left alone, called for the tragedy not to be forgotten and for such disasters to be prevented from happening again. The archbishop also praised the work of emergency services and volunteers.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Identification of the deceased

The disaster occurred on Wednesday: a train traveling from Madrid to Seville collided with a stationary train. Investigators are determining the causes of the accident, described in the report as one of Europe’s deadliest rail tragedies of this century.

Relatives of the victims provided DNA samples to identify the bodies. According to the latest data, forensic experts have completed autopsies on all 69 victims and identified 56 of them: 54 were Spanish citizens, while the other two were citizens of France and Portugal.

In January, another major rail accident occurred near the southern village of Adamuz on the same route. Forty-six people died then.