At least 64 people have been killed in Spain following a collision between two high-speed trains near the town of Urda in Toledo province.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the accident may have been preceded by an error at the railway control centre following a failure of the safety system. This was reported by the newspaper El País.
According to the authorities, 58 injured people are being treated in hospitals, 15 of whom are in extremely critical condition. The death toll could rise as rescue teams continue their search operations.
The collision involved trains operated by two companies, Renfe and Iryo. More than 540 people were travelling on the two trains.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente reported that at approximately 08:30 local time, the railway safety system failed due to a communication breakdown between three computers. All trains along a 63-kilometre section of track were automatically brought to a halt.
Following the failure, Adif’s control centre in Madrid authorised one of the trains to resume its journey, even though the malfunction had not yet been resolved and a railway signal was displaying a stop indication.
According to the minister, the train travelled approximately 25 kilometres at a speed of around 200 km/h before crashing into another train that remained stationary.
Puente described the control centre’s decision as “inexplicable”, noting that the train had been allowed to resume its journey without any speed restrictions. The exact causes of the accident are still being investigated.
This railway disaster is the deadliest in Spain since 2013, when 80 people were killed in a train derailment. However, it is also the second major railway accident in Spain in 2026. In January, 46 people were killed when a high-speed train derailed and collided with an oncoming train. According to investigators, the likely cause of the January disaster was damage to a rail resulting from a defective welded joint.
Rail services between Madrid and Andalusia were suspended. A total of 200 military personnel from the emergency response unit were deployed to assist with rescue operations. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez cancelled his scheduled engagements and travelled to the scene of the tragedy.
Source: news.liga.net