Cambridge scientist Marta Shahbazi among at least 69 killed in Spanish train crash

The collision

A Renfe AVE high-speed train slammed into the rear of a stationary Iryo train near Urda, in Toledo province, on 28 October. Regional officials in Castilla-La Mancha said the Iryo train carried 146 passengers and an infant, while 397 people were aboard the moving Renfe train, more than 540 in total. At least 69 people were killed and more than 100 injured, dozens of them in serious condition. The impact derailed several carriages, and some tumbled down an embankment. The collision is Spain's deadliest rail accident since the 2013 Santiago de Compostela derailment, and three days of national mourning were declared.

Iryo train (stationary)146

Renfe AVE train (moving)397

Iryo train (stationary)

146 passengers

Renfe AVE train (moving)

397 passengers

Data from the article text

Scientists among the dead

Marta Shahbazi, 41, a cell biologist who led a research group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, was on one of the two trains. She was travelling to El Rompido, in Huelva province, to receive a 2026 award from the Spanish Society for Developmental Biology, recognising her work on early human development. Her laboratory had first listed her whereabouts as unknown. Her death was confirmed late on Saturday, 31 October, by the Spanish research centre CiMUS. Shahbazi, who was from the province of León and had completed her doctorate at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, leaves two young children.

The laboratory paid tribute to her in a statement.

“Marta was an inspiring, talented and passionate scientist.”

Shahbazi was also an affiliate associate professor at Cambridge's Stem Cell Institute. She had joined Cambridge as a postdoctoral fellow and took up her group leadership in 2020. Her research focused on early human development, and she was widely regarded as an expert in mammalian embryogenesis.

Second researcher from León

A 31-year-old woman from Bembibre, a biosciences doctor who worked at a research institute in Vienna, was also travelling to the congress in Huelva. The Bembibre council announced her death on Saturday in a statement on social media, offering condolences to her family. The Diputación de León and the council of Carrizo de la Ribera, where Shahbazi's mother was born, also mourned Shahbazi publicly. The mayor of Ponferrada, Marco Morala, said he was deeply saddened by the news.

Timeline of confirmations

The crash on 28 October was followed by several days in which families and colleagues searched for the two scientists. Shahbazi's laboratory stated that it was in close contact with her family, who were working with local authorities in Spain. The confirmations of both deaths came on Saturday, 31 October.