The families of 65 of the 69 people who died in the railway disaster in Urda, Toledo, have now received their loved ones' remains, according to the latest figures released by Spain's Integrated Data Centre (CID) on Wednesday 4 November.
The update came after forensic teams completed the identification of all 69 victims earlier in the week. The total death toll remains at 69, with the search for any further possible victims at the accident site also having concluded.
The latest figure was published by Europa Press at 19:55 on Wednesday. It updated an earlier report published by Periódico de Ibiza at 15:56, which had stated that 59 victims had been handed over to their families.
All 69 victims have been identified
The CID confirmed on Monday 2 November that all 69 people who died in the accident had been identified.
Of the victims, 54 were Spanish nationals and 15 were foreign nationals. The international victims came from Argentina, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, the United States, France, Japan, Mexico, Portugal and Tunisia.
The breakdown provided by the authorities was:
The victims comprised 40 men and 29 women, all adults.
Fingerprints and DNA used to identify the victims
The identification process involved forensic specialists from several institutions.
According to the CID, 56 victims were identified through fingerprint analysis carried out by the Guardia Civil's Criminalistics Service.
The remaining 13 identifications were completed through DNA analysis conducted by the National Institute of Toxicology in collaboration with the Guardia Civil.
Authorities confirmed that all 69 identifications had been communicated personally to the victims' families. The relevant consular offices were also notified in cases involving foreign nationals.
The CID explained that an identification was only included in the official figures after the family had received formal, in-person notification.
65 sets of remains released to families
Although all victims had been identified and their families notified, the process of handing over the remains was still continuing.
The latest update on Wednesday evening confirmed that 65 of the 69 victims had been handed over to their relatives. This left four awaiting handover at the time of the announcement.
The authorities did not provide individual details about the remaining four cases in the statement.
Search operation at the crash site concludes
The search for other possible victims at the site of the railway disaster was declared complete on Tuesday 3 November.
The provisional death toll therefore remained unchanged at 69.
The CID was established following activation of Spain's national protocol for forensic medicine and scientific police operations in incidents involving multiple victims. Under Royal Decree 32/2009, it is the body authorised to provide the media with verified official figures in such cases.
More than 60 professionals participated in the autopsy and identification work, including forensic doctors, autopsy technicians, toxicology specialists and Guardia Civil officers.
The CID said the identification of all 69 victims had been carried out with the greatest possible rigour and speed.
For the families, the completion of identification and the gradual release of the remains mark important stages in the aftermath of the disaster, although the process of returning all the victims to their loved ones had not yet been completed.