URDA, Spain — The sight of two high-speed trains destroyed in a brutal head-on collision, their steel carriages mangled and twisted, forever shattered the quiet routine of Urda, a town of barely 2,500 inhabitants in the province of Toledo, Spain, on Oct. 28.
Antonio García Condado, 78, the town pharmacist, was one of the first to see dozens of bodies trapped beneath the wreckage and to assist injured passengers who did not even have the strength to cry out for help.
He was finishing breakfast when his daughter alerted him that a train accident had occurred. Without a second thought, he got into his car and drove toward the area. At first, he believed it was only a minor incident.
“When I got there, it all seemed very minor. There was no traffic, hardly any cars. I said to myself, ‘Well, this can’t be very serious.’ But as I got closer to the AVE train’s cab, there was no cab. It was a mass of twisted metal, bodies, and dying people,” he recalled a day after the tragedy, still visibly shaken, in an interview with EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.
‘Some were moving their hands among the bodies’
What struck him most was the deathly silence that hung over the scene.
“There were no screams. Perhaps they didn’t even have the strength to speak. Some were moving their hands among the bodies,” he explained.
Journalists from various news outlets repeatedly asked García what he had witnessed. But repeating the story did nothing to lessen the impact of the scenes he had seen. Every time he told it, García became emotional once again.
“I was deeply affected by the farewell of a dying man to his wife: ‘Maite, I love you very much. Take care of the children.’ The last words he said moved me greatly: ‘God is good,’” he recalled.
Shortly afterward, he noticed another survivor who was calmly asking for help despite the severity of his injuries. García described a young man standing behind him, remarkably composed, asking for an ambulance.
“Then I noticed that his arm had been severed. He had lost his arm. I broke down. I think I even cried,” he said.
After that initial shock, he realized just how serious the situation was and immediately returned to his pharmacy. He gathered all the medical supplies he could and mobilized his entire family.
“I came back here empty-handed to get supplies, especially painkillers. My son came with me, my daughter too, my wife, and my assistant. We practically emptied out the pharmacy and all went back, trying to solve whatever problems we could,” he explained.
When he returned to the accident site, security forces directed him to enter from another access point. There he encountered an even more devastating scene on the other side of the train.
“One carriage had been crushed into another. Just imagine the bodies that were in there. It was horrifying,” he said.
Within minutes, the disaster area involving the two crashed trains, a Renfe AVE carrying 397 people and an Iryo train carrying 147 passengers, filled with the activity that accompanies major catastrophes: dozens of ambulances crossing paths with funeral-home vehicles, fire trucks, Civil Protection units, and officers of the civil guard.
Faith, the only comfort in the midst of tragedy
Throughout the morning, García assisted emergency teams however he could, supplying medicines and medical materials when stocks began to run low.
“What affected me most was that first moment, when I saw people asking for help and I couldn’t do anything, because I was practically alone. It was a tremendous feeling of helplessness,” explained the man of deep religious conviction.
For him, faith in Christ has been and remains his greatest source of support.
“When believers experience traumas this great, we always turn to the same thing. I think it brings tremendous comfort. It’s the only way to keep going forward.”
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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