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Speaking to Spain’s national radio RNE, Álvaro Fernández Heredia said human error was “practically ruled out”, noting that even if a mistake had been made, an onboard safety system would have corrected it.
He also stated that both trains were travelling below the maximum permitted speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) on the section of track where the accident occurred, and that the collision happened on a straight stretch rather than a curve.
Fernández Heredia suggested that a mechanical fault or an infrastructure issue may be more likely causes, but stressed that it is “very complicated” to reach a conclusion so soon after the incident, which remains under investigation.
