title: Disaster complexity and the Santiago de Compostela train derailment.
abstract: This disaster complexity case study examines Spain's deadliest train derailment that occurred on July 24, 2013 on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. Train derailments are typically survivable. However, in this case, human error was a primary factor as the train driver powered the Alvia train into a left curve at more than twice the posted speed. All 13 cars came off the rails with many of the carriages careening into a concrete barrier lining the curve, leading to exceptional mortality and injury. Among the 224 train occupants, 80 (36%) were killed and all of the remaining 144 (4%) were injured. The official investigative report determined that this crash was completely preventable.
authors.affiliation: Center for Disaster & Extreme Event Preparedness (DEEP Center), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine , Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Shultz
authors.affiliation: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Psychosocial Team, Military Disaster Relief Unit, Spanish Ministry of Defense , Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria Paz
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Garcia-Vera
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment, and Clinical Psychology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Clara Gesteira
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment, and Clinical Psychology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Mines, University of North Dakota , Grand Forks, ND, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bibel
authors.affiliation: William Lehman Injury Research Center, Surgical Residency Program, DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine , Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulman
authors.affiliation: Impact Research , Columbia, MD, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bahouth
authors.affiliation: WalkSafe Program, KiDZ Neuroscience Center, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine , Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Yasmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dias Guichot
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital , Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Zelde
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Espinel
authors.affiliation: American Humane Endowed Chair, University of Denver , Denver, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rechkemmer
keywords: anthropogenic disaster; complex disaster; complexity science; disaster cascade; human-generated disaster; mass casualty incident; risk landscape; technological disaster; train derailment; transportation disaster