The death toll from Spain’s devastating train crash, which has already claimed 68 lives, could rise further as investigators examine a reported error in a railway control room that may have led to the collision.

Three carriages derailed after a train travelling from Madrid to Seville struck a stationary train on the same route near Toledo, shortly before 9am yesterday.

At least 68 people were killed and more than 100 injured. Survivors described the crash scene as “apocalyptic”, with one saying the wreckage looked “as if a bomb had been planted”.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said an “inexplicable” instruction from a central command centre appeared to have played a role after a railway safety system malfunctioned.

The computer failure had brought every train on a 63km section of track to a standstill. Despite the system problem, central control instructed a Renfe service to resume its journey without imposing any speed limit.

Just over 20 minutes later, at 8.53am, the train crashed into the rear of the stationary Iryo service, around 100 miles south of Madrid. Several carriages were destroyed and thrown from the track. Reports said the locomotive was capable of reaching speeds of up to 185mph.

Mr Puente said the control centre “had more than enough time to verify the error”, but failed to resolve the problem.

He added: “The decision to resume traffic, while that system had not been restored, belongs to the control centre.”

The disaster occurred less than a year after another deadly rail accident in Spain, in which 46 people died when a train left the tracks and collided with an incoming service in the south of the country.

That earlier crash had already prompted serious concerns about railway safety. Following Wednesday’s tragedy, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the situation was “not acceptable”.

Mr Sanchez announced three days of national mourning beginning today. Opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo also suspended his campaign, saying: “Spain has the right to know what is going on with its infrastructure.”

Passengers who survived the collision have recalled scenes of devastation and chaos in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

Sebastian Herrero, 46, was travelling on the Iryo train when the impact sent him into the seats. He said he was thrown into the air for “about four or five seconds” — an experience that felt “like a lifetime”.

He said three Iryo carriages at the rear of the train were so badly damaged that rescuers continued removing people from them and covering them with sheets. “Corpses. It’s apocalyptic,” he said.

“In those carriages, I find it very hard to believe there are any living people. It’s a twisted mass of metal. It’s as if they had planted a bomb.”

Another survivor, named Jesus, said he saw “a boy with an amputated arm walking away from the wreckage”.

Architect Joaquín Torres also described the final moments of a fellow passenger who had suffered catastrophic injuries.

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“I went up to a woman who said she was cold… she died in my arms,” he said. “It was horrible — [she was] without legs, without arms.”

One carriage caught fire and smoke was still pouring from the mangled wreckage as emergency responders reached the scene. It emerged last night that Fatima Banez, Spain’s former employment minister, was among the dead.

Horrifying photographs showed a carriage impaled on a long steel rail that was forced through the floor and out of the roof.

Others showed passengers climbing out of twisted, broken carriages. David Gomez, a construction worker, was on a job with his brother and a colleague nearby when they heard the crash and ran to help.

‘People were trying to get out through the windows. We cut through some fences to access the area and treated people with first-aid kits we brought,’ he said. ‘As I was trying to pull a young woman out, there was a piece of a leg.’

One survivor said his carriage was ‘completely wrecked’, adding: ‘The impact was tremendous.

‘The carriage was completely destroyed. A man fell on top of me, but we were able to help him. It was a very dramatic scene.’

Another passenger said she was left ‘spinning on the floor’ by the impact. 

Miguel, a passenger travelling with colleagues in the rear car of one of the trains, said: ‘We heard a massive roar… that went on for ten seconds, as if the train were about to derail.

‘Through the right-hand window, we could see a wrecked train – it must have been the other one.’ 

The crash came the day before a 24-hour work stoppage at Renfe by Spain’s biggest train drivers’ union. 

Earlier this month, the union said: ‘Our goal is to change the system and make it safer. We demand real and definitive technical solutions to the safety and reliability issues that have long plagued our rolling stock.’

Speaking from the crash site, Prime Minister Sanchez said: ‘The whole of Spain is grieving,’ before adding that the authorities would determine the cause of the accident and take action if wrongdoing is uncovered. 

He added: ‘If there has been negligence, it will be known.’  

Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where one of Australia’s most trusted society insiders delivers the latest whispers before they become headlines

Paradise lost

Just a week after Antony Catalano made his first face-to-face court appearance in seven months, the embattled media figure has been seen overseas in an alleged public confrontation with his on-again, off-again wife, Stefanie.

The pair were enjoying the Singapore heat at the W Hotel’s swimming pool last Sunday when their luxury break reportedly erupted into a very public argument.

‘He and the wife were having a HUGE fight,’ an onlooker told The Group Chat.

Guests nearby reportedly watched as the couple exchanged heated words, before Stefanie walked away and moved to the opposite side of the hotel’s WET Deck.

‘He sat on the sun lounger away from us, then there was an argument and she stormed off and went to the sun lounger on the opposite side of the pool.’

The reported incident hardly suggested a carefree romantic escape for the recently reconciled couple, who have reportedly undergone therapy and are now at the centre of a serious criminal case.

Catalano, 59, has denied claims that he strangled his wife and swung a clothes iron at her head during an alleged assault at their luxury Melbourne apartment on March 13.

The former Domain chief and Australian Community Media chairman appeared in court on October 16. His lawyers told the court that Catalano wanted to resolve the matter and that Stefanie no longer wished to pursue the case.

However, court documents later detailed additional charges linked to the same alleged incident. They include accusations that Catalano grabbed Stefanie’s face, threw her into a wooden wardrobe and pushed her against a wall near a dining table.

Police allege Catalano was affected by drugs and wearing only his underwear at the time of the incident.

During a bail hearing, an officer alleged that Catalano demanded his wife’s phone before grabbing her and dragging her by the hair and ankles through multiple rooms and hallways inside the apartment.

He allegedly took Stefanie to the laundry before picking up a clothes iron and swinging it towards her head with ‘considerable force’.

Police say Stefanie escaped the apartment and flagged down a passing vehicle. They also allege that security cameras inside the complex recorded part of the incident.

Catalano has strongly rejected the allegations, although the case has already had significant professional consequences.

He was stood down from ACM after the charges were filed and later issued a public apology, acknowledging struggles with drugs and his mental health. He subsequently entered rehabilitation.

In the months that followed, he resigned as a director of holding companies with stakes in ACM and Southern Cross Media, with his son Luca appointed to take his place.

Meanwhile, Stefanie has urged police to drop the charges against her husband and supported changes to his bail conditions, including allowing him to live with her and travel to Byron Bay.

This month, a magistrate further varied Catalano’s bail, allowing him to live at a new address in Byron Bay and travel overseas provided he notified police.

Who is… still a couple? 

Months after the founders of fragrance brand Who Is Elijah were embroiled in a financial storm over alleged debts exceeding $1.4million in tax and more than $280,000 owed to suppliers, the once-loved-up couple appear to be on the rocks.

Raquel Bouris, who is married to Adam Bouris, the nephew of silver-haired businessman and nauseatingly ubiquitous podcaster Mark Bouris, has sparked speculation the pair may have discreetly called time on their marriage.

The mother of two, 33, has scrubbed her husband’s initials from her Instagram bio, where they had sat for years. The purge is mutual, with Raquel’s initials also disappearing from Adam’s profile. Say it ain’t so!

But it was a series of cryptic social media posts that really got tongues wagging, with screenshots now ricocheting around Sydney’s endlessly gossipy Sutherland Shire.

Last week, Raquel shared an Instagram Story featuring the decidedly non-committal declaration: ‘Maybe I’m with the girls. Maybe I’m with my man. Maybe I’m single. Maybe I’m not.’

That’s an awfully odd thing for a happily married woman to say.

Even her followers took note, with one commenting: ‘I feel like something is going down and I hope you and the family are all OK.’

And last month, Raquel fuelled further chatter when she posted a pouting selfie accompanied by the words: ‘In the mood to change my name and start again.’

Whether the posts are genuine hints of trouble behind closed doors or simply a little social media attention-grab remains unclear.

The timing is certainly interesting, given the couple’s business has been under scrutiny in recent months in the wake of their much-hyped moved to London, where Who Is Elijah had locked in a deal with UK retailer Boots… only for the Bourises to retreat to their beloved ‘God’s country’ nine weeks later.

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Back in April, the pair claimed they had built a $20million empire with Who Is Elijah, with the brand reportedly generating $2.2million in profit during Black Friday 2023.

Those figures were certainly a far cry from the financial picture painted by reports of substantial alleged tax liabilities and outstanding supplier debts. But who am I to judge?

Adding to the drama, Adam was spotted emptying items into a skip bin after vacating a warehouse, as questions swirled around the business.

At the time, Raquel pushed back against claims about the company’s financial position and allegations of a toxic workplace.

‘We are currently in a phase of refining and strengthening the business to support where we are going next,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.

‘In relation to the financial figures referenced, these do not accurately reflect the current position of the business.’

Raquel also rejected claims about the company’s workplace culture, arguing that anonymous reviews and individual accounts did not represent the broader business.

‘We respect that former employees may have had different experiences, however we do not agree with the allegations as they have been presented, and we would not characterise the business in those terms,’ she said.

Customers have also raised concerns on review platforms, with complaints including alleged delays to orders, difficulties obtaining refunds and problems involving unusable gift cards or damaged products.

Raquel said the company took customer satisfaction seriously and worked directly with customers to resolve issues.

‘Where issues arise, we work directly with customers to resolve them and continue to refine our systems as the business grows,’ she said.

The next import

One of the Shire’s most colourful families – no, not the Bingles – is preparing to welcome a new addition.

Tom Doyle, the younger brother of former drug-smuggling socialite Matthew Doyle, is expecting a baby with his wife, Georgia.

Georgia recently celebrated with an extravagant baby shower, complete with a photographer and content producer to document the occasion. No Shire event, it seems, is complete unless it is properly packaged for Instagram.

Among the photos was one of the mother-to-be alongside her sister-in-law Kelsea, who stood by Matthew throughout his prison sentence.

Matthew made headlines in 2019 when he was arrested over an alleged attempt to smuggle $85 million worth of cocaine into Australia. The operation unravelled after US undercover officers learned of the shipment and alerted Australian authorities.

Matthew and Kelsea welcomed their second child in December 2024. The baby was reportedly conceived shortly after his release from prison, while he was wearing an ankle bracelet, I’m told.

Matthew is understood to now work in the family’s car-detailing business. At the baby shower, Kelsea wore a $700 Harris Tapper knot top, $1,400 Hermès sandals and $250 Coach sunglasses.

The grind never starts 

To be clear: I have no issue with nepo babies whose parents have more money than most of us will see in a lifetime. In fact, in a past life, I’m fairly certain I was one. 

But of all the entitled trust-fund offspring, Jordan Escalante, son of Perth gaming billionaire Laurence Escalante, might just take the cake.

The teenager, one of Laurence’s four children, recently took to Instagram to share his thoughts on ‘life being unemployed at 18’ – a sentiment that hits a little differently when your father is worth a fortune.

Jordan treated followers to a glimpse of a day in his life, which included attending a brand event, hitting the gym and washing his Volkswagen Golf GTI.

I’ll give him this: the Golf is a surprisingly humble choice for the son of a man whose private vehicle collection reportedly boasts more than 180 rare ‘hypercars’, supercars and track vehicles. Perhaps a humble hot hatch is the ultimate act of rebellion – or maybe the Ferrari was getting detailed.

Little is known about Jordan, although he is the spitting image of his father. Whether he eventually inherits Laurence’s business acumen remains to be seen. For now, he’s apparently still in the ‘finding himself’ stage of young adulthood – and, without a job.

Laurence shares four children with his ex-wife, Perth socialite and philanthropist Sarita Escalante, a familiar face on the city’s high-society charity circuit, particularly through her support for children’s health and welfare initiatives.

Sarita has also had a brief stint on the corporate side of the family empire.

During the early growth period of Laurence’s online gaming company, Virtual Gaming Worlds, she was appointed to its board with Laurence’s father, Lorenzo Escalante, after an attempted initial public offering collapsed and the original board resigned.

The appointments came during a critical financing period, allowing Laurence to maintain control of the business as it continued to grow.

As for Jordan, there’s no rush. He’s only 18, after all.

Poundland is reportedly preparing to enter administration after its owners, who acquired the discount retailer for £1, turned down a proposed rescue deal.

The company, which employs approximately 12,000 people, is expected to file a notice of intention to appoint administrators. The move follows a year of unsuccessful efforts to revive the business, despite up to £80million being made available in financial support.

If the High Court approves the notice, Poundland will gain temporary protection while it searches for another buyer or rescue arrangement. The preferred offer was rejected by US owners Gordon Brothers.

The decision has angered Poundland executives, who had backed a takeover proposal from Martin Property Group.

Gordon Brothers rejected the proposal, which would have preserved the retailer as a whole, because Martin Property Group would not agree to settle a £30million shareholder loan inherited when Poundland was purchased in June 2025.

Managing director Barry Williams described the crisis to staff as ‘unexpected, unwanted and wholly avoidable’.

Three directors brought in only two weeks earlier to supervise a possible sale have resigned in protest.

With unions warning that thousands of jobs could be at risk before Christmas, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has written to Gordon Brothers demanding an explanation for its decision.

Poundland abandoned its ‘where everything’s £1’ slogan in 2019 as it broadened its product range. The retailer now has around 600 shops and two distribution centres, including one in Andy Burnham’s Makerfield constituency.

Following the Gordon Brothers takeover last year, Poundland shut between 150 and 200 stores, along with warehouses in South Yorkshire and the West Midlands. It recorded an £85m pre-tax loss for the year ending September 2025.

With no rescue agreement secured, Poundland is moving rapidly towards insolvency. The business could be broken up and sold in parts, or transferred to a new owner through a pre-pack administration. Both outcomes could result in further shop closures and job losses.

Several possible buyers are reportedly watching the situation, including discount chains Lidl, Iceland and B&M, Modella, the owner of TG Jones, and retail entrepreneur Chris Dawson.

Dawson, who made his name by establishing The Range, has increasingly become associated with rescuing struggling British retail brands. He bought Wilko and parts of Homebase as both businesses approached collapse.

The 74-year-old is widely known as the ‘Del Boy Billionaire’. He began his career selling goods on markets in Plymouth, drawing comparisons with David Jason’s fast-talking wheeler-dealer from Only Fools and Horses.

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Unlike his fictional inspiration, Dawson has achieved considerable commercial success, despite living with dyslexia. He cannot write and did not learn to read until he was 27.

Even in an era dominated by email, he prefers to conduct business face to face or by telephone.

That direct approach has served him well. Instead of travelling in a battered Reliant Regal, Dawson is known to drive a yellow Lamborghini Urus super-SUV featuring the personalised number plate DE11 BOY. The registration has previously been displayed on a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley.

Another plate, DAW50N, is currently attached to a bright orange Lamborghini Revuelto, while the billionaire is also known to have owned Range Rovers and a Ferrari 458 with a flashy paint job inspired by the Italian flag. 

Dawson is also famed for flying around in a Range-branded helicopter in order to visit his stores personally. 

He opened his first CDS Superstore – later renamed The Range – in Plymouth in 1989  and has openly likened his stores to ‘a poor man’s John Lewis’, once telling the Telegraph: ‘As each person comes in, I think: “Kerching, kerching, kerching!”‘

That hasn’t stopped it attracting well-heeled customers – The Duchess of Cambridge was seen doing last-minute Christmas shopping at the King’s Lynn branch near Norfolk in 2018.

In 2023, Dawson bought the rights to Wilko for £5million after the homeware chain collapsed, initially turning it into a web-only retailer before opening a handful of physical stores and 200 click-and-collect points across the country.

A year later he would do the same with Homebase, spending £30million on buying brand rights and 70 of its stores in a pre-pack deal. The brick-and-mortar shops were rebranded as The Range while the Homebase name has moved online.

Dawson is thought to have saved millions of pounds in tax by handing control of his businesses to his wife Sarah, who resides in Jersey and is the controlling party of parent firm Norton Group Holdings.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List, Dawson and his wife are worth a combined £2.65billion.

While buyers circle, a civil war is raging within Poundland’s walls – with upper management rounding on their Gordon Brothers paymasters after their preferred rescue deal collapsed.

Barry Williams, the company’s managing director, revealed to staff that Gordon Brothers had cut off the company’s access to cash for day-to-day operations.

In a memo to workers, he said the rejection of the Martin Property Group bid had been ‘unexpected, unwanted and wholly avoidable’.

He added: ‘As you all know, our sales are strong and our recovery is taking root. This business simply does not deserve to go into any kind of administration.’

Poundland and Gordon Brothers were contacted for comment. 

Antoine de Massy, a cousin of Prince Albert of Monaco, is believed to have died after falling 40ft in a public garden on Sunday.

Questions are also being raised about a possible connection to a cryptocurrency scandal, while a Ukrainian national has been arrested over the death.

De Massy’s body was found behind Monaco’s New National Museum, near Boulevard du Larvotto.

Reports say he was last seen staggering away from a nightclub during the early hours of Sunday.

The 29-year-old was reported missing after failing to appear for a family lunch, according to local newspaper Monaco Matin. His body was discovered soon afterwards.

Police arrested a Ukrainian national on Monday after CCTV showed him near the location where De Massy’s body was found.

Investigators determined that the 42-year-old had been in contact with De Massy. However, he declined to answer questions when he appeared before a judge on Wednesday.

The suspect remains in pre-trial detention and faces allegations of involuntary manslaughter and failing to assist a person in danger.

Autopsy findings indicate that the royal most likely died after falling approximately 40ft from a building in the area.

Meanwhile, rumours have emerged that the 29-year-old may have had ties to a cryptocurrency controversy.

An investigation by BILD reported that De Massy was active in Monaco’s blockchain sector. Blockchain is a shared digital database that records information across a network of computers.

He founded Instant Tech in 2021, a company designed to connect local businesses, merchants and customers for instant bookings and payments. He also co-founded the Association Cryptographique de Monte-Carlo.

An unnamed source told BILD that De Massy was rumoured to have links to the controversial cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.

The Polish-founded company is being investigated by authorities after collapsing in 2026, leaving thousands of customers unable to access their funds.

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The reported losses are estimated at no less than 79.5million euros, while Polish authorities are investigating suspected fraud and money laundering.

No connection between De Massy and Zondacrypto has been proven. However, an insider close to the Grimaldi family told BILD that he was a prominent figure in Monaco’s technology community.

‘It shows that Prince Albert II had placed his trust in the ambitious young entrepreneur. Without the prince’s approval, Antoine would not have been able to take on these positions in the tech scene,’ the source said.

Meanwhile, Monaco has been under increased scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force since 2024, and is on the international grey list of high-risk countries for money laundering.

The Financial Action Task Force has pointed to weaknesses in the fight against money laundering in the principality.

These include insufficient controls, shortcomings in investigations, and deficiencies in tracing criminal assets.

The prince’s palace announced De Massy’s death in a statement on Monday: ‘Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène were saddened to learn of the death of Antoine de Massy, the grandson of Princess Antoinette, the elder sister of Prince Rainier III.

‘A keen tennis player, he was part of a family history closely linked to the sport in the principality.

‘Their Highnesses share in the grief of his family and loved ones and offer them their sincere condolences at this painful time.’

De Massy played tennis professionally and moved to Florida with his family when he was younger to train at the prestigious Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, with hopes of making it to the Olympics.

In a 2012 interview with Vogue Italia, he said his dream was to ‘become number one in the world,’ adding, ‘even in the top 20 wouldn’t be bad!’

Despite his royal connections, he preferred to stay out of the spotlight in Monte Carlo’s social scene, according to BILD.

One of his last public appearances was at the traditional Te Deum Mass for Monaco’s National Day in November 2025.

His father, Baron Christian de Massy, is often referred to as the black sheep of the family, having been kicked out of school and banished to Argentina for causing too much trouble in his youth. 

Dubbed a playboy by local media, all four of his marriages ended in divorce. He is rarely ever seen at social events with the Monaco royal family.