Photo: Terry Wha / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). File photo of Spanish high-speed trains, not the crash scene.
At least 64 people have died after two high-speed trains collided in central Spain on Wednesday, the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha said, in the country's second deadly rail disaster in less than a year. About 80 more people were injured, according to regional authorities.
The crash happened shortly before 9 a.m. local time near Urda, in Toledo province, about 120 kilometres south of Madrid, on the high-speed line linking the capital with Andalusia and Seville. Spain's rail infrastructure operator, Adif, suspended services between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia after the collision.
What happened on the Madrid–Seville line
Both trains were travelling in the same direction, from Madrid toward Seville, when one struck the rear of the other, which had stopped on the track, regional spokeswoman Esther Padilla told state broadcaster TVE. Two carriages derailed, and at least three carriages plunged down an embankment, according to reports from the scene.
The trains were carrying 544 passengers between them: 397 aboard the state-owned Renfe service and 147 aboard the private Iryo service, Padilla said. The Renfe train struck the rear of the Iryo train, the Associated Press reported, citing Padilla. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia told TVE that emergency workers were concentrating on rescuing survivors and recovering bodies from the two most damaged carriages, and that the injured were being taken to hospitals across the region.
Padilla initially reported 10 deaths and warned that the number would surely rise. Later updates from the regional government put the toll at at least 64, the Associated Press and other outlets reported. Officials warned the toll could rise further as rescue workers reached passengers trapped in the wreckage.
Rescue effort and reaction
Fire crews, police, medical teams, helicopters and a military emergency brigade were deployed to the scene, and the town of Urda was asked to prepare a sports pavilion to receive injured passengers, local officials said. Evacuated passengers were seen walking along a road near the scene, some with bandaged wounds, as volunteers handed out water.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on social media that he was shocked by the serious train accident in Toledo, adding that emergency services were working on the ground to assist those affected. Spain's football federation postponed Wednesday's 24 Copa del Rey first-round matches as a mark of respect, Reuters reported.
Second disaster on the same line
The crash is the second major accident this year involving trains run by the same two operators on the same Madrid–Andalusia corridor. In January, a collision near Adamuz in Cordoba province killed 45 or 46 people after a train derailed and struck an oncoming service, according to reports of that disaster.
The cause of Wednesday's collision has not been officially confirmed. A person briefed on the disaster told Arab News that the Iryo train had stopped near Toledo on orders from infrastructure manager Adif due to a signal fault, and that the Renfe train then struck it at high speed. That account has not been confirmed by investigators, and Renfe said the circumstances were being investigated. Authorities have set up an emergency phone line for victims' families, and the investigation will now focus on signalling, the trains' data recorders and why the leading train had stopped.
Sources: Associated Press (passenger counts, Padilla's account, services suspended, health minister's remarks); Reuters (Copa del Rey postponement, Adif suspension); CGTN/Xinhua and South China Morning Post (death toll of 64 confirmed by the Castilla-La Mancha regional government); Arab News (person briefed on the signal-fault account, attributed, not confirmed). The death toll is a developing figure and may change.