Spain Train Crash Leaves at Least 30 Dead After Two High-Speed Trains Collide Near Toledo

MADRID, October 28-  A Spain train crash near Toledo killed at least 30 people on Wednesday, after two high-speed trains collided in the central part of the country. The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha gave the figure. Some Spanish media later reported a higher count of at least 39, and officials said numbers could still change.

The crash happened at about 8:54 a.m. near Urda, in Toledo province, between the towns of Los Yébenes and Orgaz. Spain’s rail infrastructure manager, Adif, suspended service on the high-speed line between Madrid and the southern region of Andalusia. The cause isn’t known yet, and the full list of casualties is still being worked out.

A person briefed on the accident said an express train operated by the private company Iryo was stopped at a signal when a high-speed train run by the state railway company Renfe struck it. Esther Padilla, a spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha government, confirmed that a Renfe AVE train collided with a stationary Iryo train on the Madrid–Seville line. The Renfe train had departed Madrid bound for Seville, and several of its carriages fell down an embankment after the impact.

Padilla said 147 people, including a baby, were on the Iryo train and 397 were on the Renfe service. Hospitals in Toledo, Alcázar de San Juan and Ciudad Real were ready to receive the injured. Firefighters and medical teams worked at the scene, and helicopters and ambulances arrived within about 20 minutes, according to a passenger. Iryo said its service 6076, operating on the Madrid–Seville route, was involved in an accident near Urda.

Local media reported that early analysis pointed to human error. Government sources told the newspaper El País that an Adif operator appeared to have made a mistake when signaling systems failed. Officials haven’t confirmed that, and Adif is investigating.

Survivors described a violent impact. Eduarda, who was on the Iryo train, told Cadena SER radio that a very strong jolt threw her forward and injured several people in her carriage. She first thought the train had made an emergency stop. Then she saw the injured and was told to get out. After she climbed down an embankment, she saw part of the train hanging down the slope and a fire in one carriage. “I saw dead people,” she said.

Another passenger, Miguel, was in a rear carriage of one of the trains. He told COPE radio that he heard an enormous crash that lasted about 10 seconds, as if the train were about to derail. The last three carriages, where he sat, ended up partly tipped over. He and his colleagues got out through windows and doors. Patricia, who said she was pregnant, told the same station she saw a carriage that had fallen and burned out. People in her carriage stayed calm and helped her out, she said.

The mayor of Los Yébenes, Jesús Pérez Martín, called the situation horrific. He told the public broadcaster RTVE that police had told him of mutilations and very serious injuries.

Spain’s health minister, Mónica García, said the images from the site made clear the country faced a major tragedy. She said officials were waiting to learn how many people had died and how many needed intensive care.  She also urged people to give blood and shared a link to nearby donation centers.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was shocked by the accident. He said he was in constant contact with the authorities, and he sent his support to the victims and their families. Sánchez has called a general election for November 29.

This is the second deadly high-speed rail crash in Spain this year. In January, an Iryo train derailed near Adamuz in the south and collided with an oncoming Renfe train on the same Madrid–Andalusia line, killing 46 people in one of Europe’s worst rail disasters in decades.

Rescuers are still searching the wreckage, and railway operator Adif said the line will remain closed while recovery and investigation work continues. The government has not said when service will resume.