By a narrow margin: wife of Real Madrid star survives Spain disaster

The accident claimed the lives of 74 people

Claudia Rodríguez, wife of Real Madrid and Spain star Marc Cucurella, was travelling on one of the trains behind the carriage caught up in Wednesday's deadly collision in Spain. She escaped disaster by a matter of minutes, forced to turn back to Madrid once the accident unfolded.

Rodríguez said, via her social media accounts: "I was on my way to Malaga aboard the next train, and I am in shock. I would like to express my full support to the relatives and friends of the victims."

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She added: "I am fine, my friends, my train was not affected at all, because the distance between it and the train involved in the accident was large. We only had to turn back and head to Madrid, because it was travelling on the same track."

Rodríguez continued: "I feel shocked just thinking that if the accident had happened later, the same thing could have happened to my train, but that cannot be compared to what the people aboard the train involved in the accident went through."

At least 74 people died when the two high-speed trains collided, according to a new toll announced on Thursday by the railway accident investigation committee of the Spanish Ministry of Transport.

The crash struck on Wednesday morning in the municipality of Orda in the central Castilla-La Mancha region. A Renfe train ploughed into a train run by private operator Iryo after the latter had stopped due to an electronic fault in the signalling system, the report states.

Around 550 people were aboard the two trains at the time. Spain has declared 72 hours of national mourning amid widespread shock over one of the deadliest railway disasters in the country's history.