A mother travelling to her daughter’s wedding and a 22-year-old Renfe technician visiting relatives are among those whose families are desperately seeking news following the Toledo train disaster.
More than 24 hours after Wednesday’s collision between Urda and Los Yebenes, relatives were searching hospitals, sharing photographs and providing DNA samples to help identify their loved ones.
According to the provisional figures, at least 69 people were killed and 107 injured.
Among those missing is Ana Aviles Uruñuela, who was travelling to Sevilla for her daughter Ana Roman’s wedding on Saturday.
Her daughter appealed on Telecinco for anyone who recognised her mother to come forward, while friends and relatives circulated her photograph online.
Families have gathered at Sevilla-Santa Justa station and travelled to Toledo, hoping to find relatives among hospital patients.
David Reina, a 22-year-old from Malaga who works as a Renfe technician in Madrid, was heading to Sevilla to visit family.
He was travelling in carriage eight of the AVE involved in the collision. His friends and relatives said they had received no news of him.
Another young passenger, engineer David Martínez Mendez, 25, was making the journey for work. He occupied seat 16A in carriage seven.
His family and friends travelled to Toledo to search hospitals, while relatives in Madrid and Sevilla shared appeals online.
Guardia Civil officer Juan Jose Garcia Palacios also remained missing. His family had contacted hospitals in Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha without locating him.
Policia Nacional officer Ivan Romano Ramos, 42, from Alcala de Guadiara, was also unaccounted for, according to official sources cited by El Correo de Andalucia. Organisations have circulated posters bearing his photograph.
The family of Jose Angel San Emeterio, 54, known as Pepe, were similarly awaiting news.
His sister Ana went to Santa Justa seeking information, while another sister, Esther, travelled to the scene of the disaster.
Ana Benitez was searching for her brother David, who had been sitting in seat 13B in carriage eight of the AVE.
Their father, David’s wife and Ana’s husband travelled to Toledo, while Ana and her mother provided DNA samples to the Guardia Civil in Seville.
The family said a primary care medical record had appeared in Castilla-La Mancha, but they did not know whether David had been transferred elsewhere or what condition he was in.
Seville actor Cesar Vicente was also seeking his father, who occupied seat 13A in the same carriage.
He and his mother were waiting at Toledo’s Casa Sacerdotal alongside dozens of other relatives. The actor also reported receiving false information about his father generated using artificial intelligence.
Antonio Vazquez, manager of bullfighter Pablo Aguado and brother of former matador Curro Vazquez, was also unaccounted for.
His son Fran said the family had initially been told he was at Toledo’s university hospital, but subsequently discovered he was not there.
Meanwhile, relatives were searching for Mari Carmen Garcia, 26, originally from Rute in Cordoba province.
She grew up in Mallorca and was living and working in Madrid before travelling towards Sevilla. Her family said they did not know her condition or whether she had been admitted to hospital.
