Antonio Vázquez, manager of bullfighter Pablo Aguado, dies in Urda train collision

The collision near Urda

On Wednesday, 28 October, at 8:54, an AVE train operated by Renfe struck an Iryo train on the high-speed Madrid-Seville line at Urda, in Toledo province. The impact took place at kilometre point 118, between Mora and Urda. Two carriages of the Iryo train derailed and tumbled down an embankment, which made the work of rescue crews more difficult. The two drivers in the AVE cab were a senior driver and a trainee who was only five years younger, and both were in their thirties.

The search and a false hospital lead

On Wednesday evening, the family of Antonio Vázquez was told he had been located at the Hospital Universitario de Toledo. That information proved to be a mistake, in a day marked by confused and contradictory emergency lists. His son Fran Vázquez went to the hospital in person, hoping to find his father alive, and said that his name appeared in the database but that nobody there knew anything.

“My father's name appears in the database, but he is not here, nobody knows anything, not even the Guardia Civil.”

On Thursday morning, his brother Curro Vázquez and his nephew Fran Vázquez issued a statement thanking people for their concern while the search for Antonio was still under way. Recovery work on the track later located his body in coach 8 of the Iryo train, and his death was confirmed on Thursday, 29 October. The family had spent more than 24 hours hoping he would be found alive.

Who Antonio Vázquez was

Antonio Vázquez, aged 74 according to El Mundo, worked as a veedor, an adviser who judges bulls in the field, and as a manager (apoderado). He had managed Pablo Aguado for roughly a decade, alongside his son Fran, and had also managed his nephew, the bullfighter Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez. La Razón reports that he was born in Linares and built his career in Madrid, debuting as a novillero in 1968 before a serious goring ended his time in the ring. At the time of the crash he was travelling to the Núñez del Cuvillo ranch in Vejer de la Frontera, Cádiz, to review the herd for next year's events.

Other victims and the death toll

The Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes Ferroviarios (CIAF) has kept the death toll at 69, after briefly raising it to 74 on its website. El Periódico reports that the correction came minutes after the higher figure appeared. Among the dead is a 27-year-old industrial engineer from Alicante who was travelling for work from Madrid to Seville. Her sister posted a search message on Instagram in the hours after the crash, and her death was announced on Thursday afternoon, 29 October.

Reactions in the bullfighting world

La Vanguardia reports that the bullfighting world has mourned Vázquez, who was widely respected for his discretion and knowledge of bulls. Pablo Aguado was in Lima, Peru, for the start of the American season and began the journey back to Spain after learning of the crash. Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez posted a message on social media expressing solidarity with all the victims and their families, saying the tragedy had also touched his own family closely.