Who is Raúl Triguero, the Spanish TV reporter killed in the Urda train crash?

At 43, according to the newspaper El Debate, Raúl Triguero was on a work trip from Madrid to Seville when his train collided with another near Urda, in Toledo province in central Spain. People close to him confirmed his death on Friday, Oct. 30, to the newspaper El Confidencial.

A reporter on his way to an interview

Triguero was due to interview Amador Mohedano for the Telecinco magazine show "¡De viernes!". Mohedano is the brother of the singer Rocío Jurado, who died in 2006, and the ex-husband of Rosa Benito. The interview was prompted by remarks Benito made on the reality show "Supervivientes All Stars 3".

According to El Confidencial, Triguero was in car eight of the AVE, Spain's high-speed train. A cameraman from the team was supposed to pick him up in Seville. After the crash, contact with him was lost, and by Wednesday he was considered missing. On Thursday his name was not among the confirmed dead.

People close to him told the magazine Lecturas on Thursday: "Wir wissen weiterhin nichts von ihm. Es ist furchtbar" (roughly, "We still know nothing about him. It is terrible"). According to El Debate, "¡De viernes!" host Santi Acosta went to the crash site and to the university hospital in Toledo to try to find out what had happened to him.

What happened on the Madrid–Seville line

Two high-speed trains collided on Wednesday, Oct. 28, shortly before 9 a.m. on the Madrid–Seville line near Urda. An AVE operated by the state railway Renfe ran into a stationary train run by the operator Iryo. That train had stopped after a failure of the LZB train protection system.

Both trains were traveling from Madrid-Atocha to Sevilla-Santa Justa, with almost 550 people on board between them. Several cars derailed, and some burned out.

According to the Transport Ministry, the AVE hit the other train at about 200 km/h (about 124 mph). If the system fails, trains are supposed to proceed on sight at around 40 km/h (about 25 mph). Transport Minister Óscar Puente called a decision by the control center at Atocha "unerklärlich" ("inexplicable"). The courts and experts are investigating, and the cause has not been established.

Toll and identification of victims

The data center of the emergency command (Centro Integrado de Datos) counted 69 dead on Friday. As of Thursday, the number of injured ranged, depending on the update, from 107 to almost 200. Emiliano García-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, said on Thursday that the number of dead could rise as the cars are recovered.

Authorities have identified only a few victims so far. By Friday morning the data center had reported five identifications to families, without giving names. Among the dead is former Labor Minister Fátima Báñez, as confirmed by the employers' federation CEOE.

It is the second fatal high-speed rail accident in Spain in 2026, about nine months after the one at Adamuz.

Career in celebrity television

Triguero studied journalism and audiovisual communication. He first worked behind the camera and later as a street reporter. In 2013 he joined the Telecinco show "Sálvame" as an editor and reporter, staying until it was taken off the air in June 2023. There he reported live, from red carpets and with exclusive interviews from the world of celebrities.

He then moved to the team of "¡De viernes!", produced by Mandarina Producciones for Telecinco and hosted by Acosta and Beatriz Archidona. He was responsible for revelations, investigations and the week's major interviews.

Colleagues reacted with dismay on social media. Miguel Frigenti wrote of Triguero: "Ein großartiger Kollege, einfühlsam, freundlich und immer ein guter Ratgeber. Ein wunderbarer Mensch, den ich nicht vergessen werde." In English, that is roughly: "A great colleague, empathetic, kind and always a good adviser. A wonderful person whom I will not forget."