Category: Uncategorized

A fracture in a straight section of track “occurred prior to the passage” of a high-speed train that derailed, causing last Sunday’s rail disaster in which 45 people died, an initial report has found.

A train run by private company Iryo derailed last Sunday and its rear carriages crossed on to the opposite track into the path of an oncoming train run by state-owned Renfe.

The CIAF rail investigation commission said not only did Iryo train’s front carriages which stayed on the track have “notches” in their wheels, but three earlier trains that went over the track earlier did too.

A gap of almost 40cm (15in) in the track has become the focus of the investigation into the crash.

Sunday’s deadly collision occurred at around 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT), about an hour after the Iryo train left Málaga for Madrid.

The train’s last three carriages – carriages six to eight – derailed and collided with the Huelva-bound Renfe train. “Carriage six derailed due to a complete lack of continuity in the track,” the preliminary report finds.

Most of those killed and injured were in the front carriages of the state-operated train.

Earlier this week, Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente confirmed reports that grooves were found on the wheels of the Iryo train’s carriages, which had passed over the track safely.

“These notches in the wheels and the deformation observed in the track are compatible with the fact that the track was cracked,” the CIAF preliminary report said.

It added that three trains that had gone over the tracks at 17:21 on Sunday, 19:01 and then 19:09 had similar notches “with a compatible geometric pattern”.

Similar grooves are found on carriages two, three and four of the Iryo train, the report says, but carriage five – the last that did not derail – had a groove on its outer edge, suggesting the rail was already tilting outwards before carriage six derailed.

The CIAF called its report a “working hypothesis”, adding that it “must be corroborated by later detailed calculations and analysis”.

The transport minister appeared before reporters again on Friday to say that it was too early to have definitive answers, but that if the cause of the crash was the fracture, then it occurred in the minutes and hours before the derailment and could not have been detected.

The Adamuz disaster is is the country’s worst rail crash in more than a decade.

In 2013, Spain suffered its worst high-speed train derailment in Galicia, north-west Spain, which left 80 people dead and 140 others injured.

What is the storm’s predicted path?

How are states preparing for the storm?

AFP via Getty Images

The president of Somaliland has held separate talks with his Israeli counterpart and the second son of the US leader, as the breakaway region continues to seek international recognition and foreign investment.

Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi met Isaac Herzog and businessman Eric Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

”Our discussions focused on strengthening and advancing bilateral relations between the Republic of Somaliland and the State of Israel,” Abdullahi said in a post on X about the meeting with Herzog.

Last month, Israel became the first country to recognise Somaliland – 35 years after it declared independence from Somalia.

President “Cirro”, as he is known in Somaliland, shared images on social media of the closed-door event, which was reportedly organised by the Greek House Davos programme, a private forum for discreet high-level gatherings.

Abdirahman Bayle, an advisor to Somaliland’s leader, told the BBC that Eric Trump had ”expressed interest in Somaliland and the opportunities it offers”.

”Among the issues we discussed were global investors in the livestock and agriculture sectors, so that we can industrialise these sectors and export to the rest of the world,” Bayle added.

Livestock is the territory’s main export, primarily to Saudi Arabia.

Eric Trump does not have any official US government position but holds a senior role at the Trump Organization, which runs the family’s businesses. The BBC has approached his representatives for comment but has not received a response.

Somaliland sits in a strategic position on major Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping routes.

During the talks, the president emphasised Somaliland’s openness to investment, pointing to the deep-water port of Berbera as a potential logistics hub for trade and energy infrastructure.

Bayle told the BBC that his government’s approach had shifted.

“For the first time, we are not asking the world for aid,” he said. “We are offering our resources.”

Israel’s president described the talks as positive, posting on X: “I was pleased to meet here in Davos with the President of Somaliland.

“I welcome the establishment of diplomatic relations between us and look forward to deepening cooperation for the benefit of our two peoples.”

Earlier this month, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited Somaliland for the first time and said Israel was determined to advance relations with Somaliland “with momentum”.

Somaliland has governed itself since it broke away from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government in Mogadishu. It has held its own elections, issued its own currency and built its own security forces, maintaining relative stability compared with much of southern Somalia.

However, its declaration of independence had not been recognised internationally until Israel’s move in December. The recognition drew criticism from Somalia, the African Union and countries including China and Turkey, which said it violated Somalia’s territorial integrity.

The US defended Israel, accusing its critics of double standards.