Sigurnosne službe upozoravaju obitelji na lažne SMS poruke radi identifikacije žrtava

The town of Urda, located seventy kilometers from Toledo, woke up on Thursday still bearing the physical scars of the previous day’s catastrophe. One day after two high-speed trains collided in one of the largest railway tragedies in recent years, the community remained in a state of profound shock. The death toll stood at sixty-nine fatalities, with approximately one hundred and eighty others injured of varying severity. While emergency teams worked through the night to locate victims among the twisted wreckage, residents offered their assistance while grappling with how their small Manchego village had been so abruptly marked by such disaster. Emergency operations shifted focus during the overnight hours. Llanos Olivares, spokesperson for the Civil Guard, stated that nighttime efforts concentrated on locating missing persons. By Thursday morning, the priority moved toward searching for biological remains using specialized dogs. Cranes, drones, and canine units swept the area continuously. Psychological services attended to families who continued to suffer the anguish of having no news regarding their loved ones. The command post was set up mere meters from the impact site, crowded with domestic and international media personnel. Several authorities visited the location throughout the day. Olivares noted that the most difficult task currently facing investigators is identifying the deceased. To accelerate this process, officials issued a call for families with missing relatives to visit four designated offices in Toledo, Cordoba, Madrid, and Seville. These locations were established to collect DNA samples from family members, which would help match them to the bodies recovered at the scene. The Civil Guard recorded sixty-four reports of missing passengers by early Thursday morning. Officials emphasized that the sooner relatives provide these samples, the faster the identification process could proceed, although they acknowledged that the procedure itself is slow. The emotional toll on rescue workers has been severe. Teresa Marin, a psychologist and trainer for security forces, described the psychological burden borne by professionals working at the site. She referred to it as the weight of the uniform. These individuals are trained to act in emergencies without displaying vulnerability, yet many returned from shifts exhausted and in shock. Marin explained that when officers remove their uniforms, they must process the pain and trauma they have witnessed. She stressed that no human being is prepared for a tragedy of such magnitude. A dedicated team works to provide tools to counteract the horrific images etched into the minds of responders, helping them manage anger, impotence, and grief so they can continue their duties effectively. Amidst the official response, authorities raised alarms about misinformation targeting grieving families. The Integrated Data Center, known as the CID, warned that relatives of potential victims were receiving false text messages. These fraudulent SMS messages purported to be from the Civil Guard and claimed to notify recipients of the identification of their loved ones' bodies. The CID clarified that the communication of victim identities to families is always conducted in person and personally by Civil Guard agents. It is never done via telephone calls or text messages. The Civil Guard explicitly denied sending any such messages. They urged anyone who received them to disregard their authenticity. According to the protocol, a Civil Guard agent accompanied by a psychologist goes directly to the family to deliver the news. The CID stated that autopsy and identification work has continued uninterruptedly since Wednesday with maximum rigor and speed. The center was activated on Wednesday following the national medical-forensic and scientific police protocol for multiple-victim incidents. Families have organized themselves through social media platforms to locate missing passengers. Online groups share names, photographs, car numbers, clothing descriptions, and contact information to aid in finding survivors or confirming deaths. Authorities advised the public to rely solely on official channels due to the prevalence of disinformation in such crises. In addition to the four physical offices, several hotlines were established to assist victims and families. The Castile-La Mancha Emergency Service 112 launched a free phone number, 900 122 112. The train operator Renfe made its line, 900 101 020, available under its plan for assisting victims of railway accidents and their families. The rail company Iryo also enabled the number 900 001 403 for inquiries and support related to the crash. The operational phase has entered a new stage focused on recovering and identifying victims, removing the damaged trains, and clearing the infrastructure. The silence that fell over Urda on Wednesday night gave way to the relentless activity of Thursday. Investigators continue to sift through the debris, seeking biological evidence to give names to the dead. Families wait in the designated offices in Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, and Toledo, providing DNA samples in hopes of bringing closure. The contrast between the quiet devastation of the town and the intense technical work of the forensic teams defines the current reality in the region. All eyes remain fixed on the progress of the identification process as the search for answers continues.