Spain high-speed crash kills 68

Spain has a dedicated high-speed rail network that opened in 1992 and had no fatal crashes until this year. On Wednesday morning, that streak of safety ended again when two trains collided in the province of Toledo.

The regional government for Castilla-La Mancha confirmed that at least 68 people died in the accident. Another 58 passengers were hospitalized. Rescue crews continued searching the wreckage for survivors and bodies in a rural area between the villages of Urda and Los Yébenes.

Spain's rail operator ADIF reported that the crash involved two trains traveling from Madrid to Seville. A RENFE train struck the rear of an IRYO train that was already stopped on the tracks. The impact knocked two IRYO cars off the rails and scattered debris across a gravel slope near olive fields.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the cause was a computer malfunction in a security system covering 63 kilometers of track. The failure forced all trains to stop at 8:30 a.m. However, the central command center ordered the RENFE train to resume movement without speed restrictions despite an active stop signal. The collision occurred at 8:53 a.m. Puente stated the train may have been traveling at 200 kilometers per hour.

Ignacio Relaño, a passenger on the RENFE train, told state broadcaster TVE that the train slowed abruptly before the impact. He described the car leaning to one side and luggage flying through the cabin. Health Minister Mónica García said emergency workers were prioritizing the two most damaged cars for rescue operations.

This is the second deadly collision involving RENFE and IRYO trains this year. In January, a similar crash in southern Spain killed 46 people. IRYO began operating in Spain in 2022 after the country opened its high-speed network to private competition. A spokesperson for the train workers' union told TVE that increased traffic from privatization has placed extra strain on the infrastructure.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez canceled his schedule to focus on the response. He posted on X that he was dismayed by the accident and that emergency services were attending to affected passengers. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia also visited the site and expressed their grief for the families of the victims.