A high-speed passenger train slammed into the rear of another train in central Spain on Wednesday morning, killing at least 64 people and injuring dozens more in the country’s second deadly rail disaster this year, officials said.
The crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. between the towns of Mora and Orgaz in the province of Toledo, according to a regional government spokesperson cited by The Independent. A total of 544 passengers were on board the two trains, which were traveling on the high-speed corridor linking Madrid to the southern region of Andalusia.
Early casualty estimates varied across reports. Regional authorities confirmed that at least 64 people died and warned the death toll could increase, according to The Guardian and The Independent. ABC News reported that more than 60 people were killed, while Al Jazeera initially cited officials reporting at least 30 fatalities and about 80 injuries.
Collision on the Madrid-to-Andalusia corridor
The collision involved a train operated by the private firm Iryo and another operated by Spain’s state rail carrier, Renfe. A source told Reuters that the Iryo train halted on the track because of a signaling malfunction following instructions from track infrastructure manager Adif. Moments later, the Renfe train, traveling on the same line at high speed, struck the stationary Iryo train from behind, The Guardian reported.
The impact derailed multiple carriages. Renfe said in a statement that its train had received clearance to proceed and crashed into the rear of the stopped train “for reasons we don’t know,” according to The Guardian.
The disaster prompted immediate cancellations across the country. The Royal Spanish Football Federation called off all 24 Copa del Rey tournament games scheduled for Wednesday “in solidarity with the victims,” the governing body said in a statement. Top-tier clubs including Real Betis, Celta Vigo and Valencia had been slated to compete. Prominent clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla publicly expressed condolences and held moments of silence.
Mounting scrutiny over railway safety
Wednesday’s collision is the second fatal rail incident in Spain in nine months. In January, 46 people died and dozens were injured when two trains collided near Adamuz in Andalusia, an accident that also involved Renfe and Iryo along the same corridor.
Spain operates the second-largest high-speed rail network in the world, surpassed only by China, and the most expansive in Europe. High-speed passenger volume reached 25 million people in the first six months of the year, The Guardian reported. However, the repeated disasters have reignited heated political debates concerning rail network upkeep and infrastructure funding.
The crash also occurred just one day before a scheduled 24-hour national walkout by Spain’s largest train drivers union. The union had called the action at Renfe to demand improved emergency protocols and urgent remedies for equipment issues. “We demand real and definitive technical solutions to the safety and reliability issues that have long plagued our rolling stock,” the union said earlier this month.
Investigators have not yet determined how the Renfe train was authorized onto the occupied track. Emergency crews continue to search the wreckage, and the soccer federation said it will release a rescheduled match timetable in the coming days.
