At Least 30 Dead After High-Speed Trains Collide Near Toledo, Spain
A high-speed passenger train rear-ended another near Toledo, Spain, on Wednesday morning, killing at least 30 people. It is the second major accident involving the same operators since a January crash.
A high-speed passenger train slammed into the back of another near Toledo in central Spain on Wednesday morning, causing a derailment. A spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha regional government said at least 30 people had died. The spokesperson spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the death toll publicly.
The crash happened on a stretch between Mora, Orgaz and Urda. Adif, Spain's rail infrastructure authority, said the trains involved were one run by Renfe, the national rail operator, and another from the company Iryo, both travelling the Madrid–Seville route. Local media reported 397 passengers aboard the Renfe train and about 150 on the Iryo train.
Isaac Barrientos, a spokesman for the transport ministry, said early reports indicated two carriages of the Iryo train had left the tracks. All traffic on the Madrid–Andalusia line has been suspended until further notice, and ticket holders were asked not to go to stations.
Eyewitness accounts
Passengers quoted in Spanish media described a violent impact that threw people out of the dining car, broke limbs and left passengers piled on top of one another. People crawled out through windows and lay in a nearby field, where local workers who had heard the crash ran to help with first aid kits and saw the first bodies.
Earlier crash and political backdrop
In January, a deadly accident involving the same operators took place in southern Spain, when two high-speed trains collided and 46 people died. It was the country's worst rail disaster since 2013. An official report on its cause is not yet available, but preliminary investigations pointed to a broken rail as the likely reason.
Spain's interior ministry said it was sending a military emergency unit and Civil Guard officers to the scene in Toledo province. Investigators from the Major Disaster Unit are also on their way.
Early national elections are scheduled for the end of November. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose office cancelled all scheduled meetings, expressed solidarity with victims and their families. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whose conservative Popular Party cancelled all campaign events, said the priority was to help the victims.
