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.