Spain confirms 68 dead after high-speed train collision

At least 39 people have died after two high-speed trains collided in Spain, as emergency crews work at the scene and rail services between Madrid and Andalusia are suspended.

The trains, operated by Renfe and Iryo, collided shortly after 9am local time on Wednesday between Los Yébenes and Urda in Toledo province, Sky News reported, citing local authorities. The total number of dead and injured was still undetermined in its latest update.

Several carriages overturned and rolled down an embankment. Emergency teams set up a triage station near the crash site, while nearly 100 personnel from Spain’s military emergency service were called in to assist police, firefighters and medical teams.

Sky News reported that more than 500 people were aboard the trains. The cause of the collision has not been established. Spanish media reported that one train was stationary, but that account has not been confirmed.

The crash has disrupted services on the route linking Madrid with southern Spain. Iryo said its services departing Madrid’s Atocha station for the southern high-speed rail corridor had been cancelled, with no estimate for when they would resume.

It is the second deadly high-speed train crash in Spain this year. A collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, on 18 January killed at least 45 people and injured 170, according to Sky News.

Update

At least 68 people have died after two high-speed trains collided near Urda in Spain’s Toledo province, according to a report by Spanish broadcaster RTVE. The regional emergency service had reported 64 deaths and 58 injured at 14:00 local time; its website later raised the death toll to 68 and said 77 people had been taken to hospital.

The collision happened at about 09:00 on the Madrid–Seville route. The ANP report carried by Nieuws.nl said an AVE train with 397 passengers struck a stationary Iryo train carrying 147 people. It reported, citing Spanish newspaper El País, that 58 injured people had been admitted to hospital, 15 of them in critical condition. Those hospital figures were not included in the regional emergency service’s later update.

The regional service said the trains collided at Urda station and that emergency teams had been working at the scene. It reported 30 deaths and around 100 injured at 12:30, then 64 deaths and 58 injured at 14:00, before confirming 68 deaths and 77 hospital admissions at 16:00.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the AVE train had been given permission to continue when the Iryo train was stopped because of a signalling fault, according to the ANP report. RTVE said the causes remained under investigation. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised a full investigation and said any negligence or failures in the safety system would be dealt with firmly.