64 dead after two high-speed trains collide in central Spain

At least 64 people died when one high-speed train rear-ended another that had stopped on the tracks in central Spain on Wednesday morning.

The collision occurred in Toledo province between the towns of Urda and Los Yébenes. Authorities said two carriages of the stopped train were derailed. Regional president Emiliano García-Page confirmed that at least 80 people were injured and stated that the death toll was expected to rise as rescue teams continued searching through the wreckage.

The trains were traveling in the same direction from Madrid toward Seville. The operator of Spain’s rail system, ADIF, identified the vehicles as belonging to state-owned RENFE and private operator IRYO. Esther Padilla, a spokesperson for Castilla-La Mancha, reported that the RENFE train carried 397 passengers while the IRYO train had 147. García-Page said 24 deaths were attributed to the RENFE train and six to the IRYO train. The cause of the crash remained undetermined at the time of reporting.

The accident site was a flat stretch of track surrounded by olive groves. One carriage was reduced to scattered metal fragments, with debris spread across a gravel slope. Health Minister Mónica García told state television TVE that emergency crews focused on extracting survivors and bodies from the two most damaged carriages. Injured passengers were transported to various local hospitals.

Rail service was suspended between Madrid, Ciudad Real, and Andalusia. A military brigade assisted firefighters, police, and emergency services. Ambulances and medical helicopters shuttled personnel to the scene, while uninjured survivors were moved by bus. The mayor of Urda, Manuel Galán, said civil protection authorities asked his city to prepare a sports pavilion to care for the injured.

This was the second major rail disaster in Spain this year. In January, 45 people died when an IRYO train derailed and collided with an oncoming RENFE train in southern Spain. That incident was the deadliest in the country since a 2013 crash that killed 80 people. Spain has built approximately 3,900 kilometers of high-speed rail lines over the past three decades, a network second only to China’s.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez canceled his schedule to oversee the response and posted on social media that he was deeply concerned by the accident in Toledo. Queen Letizia and King Felipe VI said they were following the news with concern. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe was mourning with the victims. The Spanish football federation postponed 24 Copa del Rey matches scheduled for Wednesday.