MADRID, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- A fractured rail is likely to have caused the train crash that killed 45 people in southern Spain last Sunday, according to preliminary findings released Friday by the Commission for the Investigation of Railway Accidents (CIAF).
The report said an IRYO high-speed train traveling from Malaga to Madrid derailed after passing over a section of track that had fractured before the train reached the crash site near the town of Adamuz in Spain's Cordoba province.
After derailing, the rear coaches of the IRYO train came off the tracks and were struck at high speed by a RENFE train traveling in the opposite direction from Madrid to Huelva on an adjacent line.
"Based on the information available at this time, it can be hypothesized that the rail fracture occurred prior to the passage of the IRYO train involved in the accident and, therefore, prior to the derailment," CIAF said in a statement.
Most of the 45 victims were aboard the second train, many of them residents of Huelva. A total of 123 people were injured in the collision, the commission said.
Investigators found uniform-sized notches on the right-hand wheel treads of the IRYO train, consistent with the wheels striking the top of a broken rail. Passengers had earlier reported strong vibrations moments before the derailment.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has pledged a full investigation into the tragedy, saying the government would "assume full responsibility" while prioritizing support for the injured and the families of the victims.
Spain will hold a state funeral for the victims in Huelva on Jan. 31. ■
