Civil Guard says it is impossible to find two recorders from the Adamuz Alvia train among the wreckage

Spain's Civil Guard has told the court in Montoro (Córdoba) that it is "impossible or not viable" to locate the two secondary recorders from the Alvia train that crashed in Adamuz on 18 January, an accident in which 46 people died, according to a 26 October report cited by Cordópolis and El Español. The train's main recorders were recovered after the accident, according to both outlets.

The two missing devices recorded data from the train's safety system and were bolted to polyester doors in the cabs of cars 1 and 4, according to El Español. Officers and technicians from Actren, a maintenance company owned by Renfe and CAF, searched for them on 14 and 23 October at the Ingles Steel facilities in Dos Hermanas (Seville), where some 350 tonnes of wreckage are stored, piled up to about eight metres high. In the second search they found the two metal connection cabinets, but not the recorders.

The report attributes the impossibility to the state of the doors after the collision, the cuts made to the train, the transfers and the stacking of the wreckage, according to Cordópolis. None of the sources consulted mentions a theft or any complaint of removal, as has been claimed on social media.

The judge declared the search complete in an order dated 30 October and has summoned representatives of Iryo, Renfe and other companies on 12 November to analyse the black boxes, according to El Español. It is not known whether any of the parties will request further steps.