The Sri Lanka Railway Station Masters’ Association has written to the Ambassador of Spain expressing condolences over this week’s train collision in Toledo province, describing the deaths as a loss felt across the international railway community rather than by one country alone.

In a letter addressed to the ambassador, the association said it was deeply saddened by the loss of life and extended its sympathies to bereaved families, injured passengers, affected railway employees and the people of Spain, the Daily Mirror reported on Thursday night.

Railway professionals in Sri Lanka understood the devastating consequences of such accidents, the association said, adding that the loss of life in a railway disaster was “not merely a national tragedy but a moment of grief shared by the international railway community.”

The association asked the ambassador to convey its condolences and solidarity to the relevant Spanish authorities, to the Spanish railway community and to the families who had lost relatives. It wished the injured a speedy and complete recovery and expressed solidarity with the people of Spain during the period of mourning.

The accident

The Daily Mirror’s filing refers only to an accident that “reportedly claimed several lives and left many others injured,” and gives no casualty figure or location.

This desk’s own reporting on the crash puts the toll considerably higher. A Renfe express travelling from Madrid struck a halted service near Urda, in Toledo province, on 28 October, killing at least 68 people. Spain’s transport minister attributed the collision first to a computer failure at the control centre and subsequently to human error. That account was corroborated by Al Jazeera, the BBC and Hiru News.

Readers should take the figure from that reporting rather than from the phrasing in Thursday’s condolence item, which does not attempt to quantify the toll.

Not reported

The filing does not name the association’s signatory, give the date of the letter, or say whether the Spanish Embassy in Colombo has responded. It does not indicate whether Sri Lanka Railways, the Ministry of Transport or the government has sent any separate message, nor whether any Sri Lankan nationals were among the casualties.

The Daily Mirror is the only verified newsroom to have reported the letter.

Sources