Óscar Puente, the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, has stated that the driver of the Iryo did not realise the collision with the Alvia until he got off the train, and that the five carriages of the train remained intact. Puente spoke in an interview with Telecinco about the audio recordings that have come to light, which correspond to the conversation between the Iryo driver and the control centre. He mentioned that two calls were made: the first to report that he had experienced a bump and the second, which took place three or four minutes later. In this second communication from the driver, which occurred after the collision, he received a response from the control centre indicating that there was no train on the track. After making the first call, the driver got off the train and realised that a derailment had occurred. At that moment, it was reported that the Iryo was being affected by a fire that was spreading to a part of the adjacent track. The driver could not see the Alvia, as it was located a kilometre away and the area was in darkness. According to Puente, the location of the impact and the train’s stop has been established.
Puente says that the driver of the Iryo did not realise the collision with the Alvia until he got off the train.
