High-Speed Train Collision Kills At Least 30 in Central Spain
A rear-end crash between RENFE and IRYO services in Toledo province deraled cars and suspended rail links to Andalusia.
By Jabari Long ·
A high-speed train collided with the rear of a stationary service in central Spain on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people. The impact deraled two carriages and scattered debris across a gravel slope near the towns of Urda and Los Yébenes. Spanish state-owned news agency EFE reported the death toll reached 30 as of the latest updates.
Esther Padilla, spokeswoman for the Castilla La Mancha region, confirmed the incident occurred in the province of Toledo. She stated that the two trains were traveling in the same direction from Madrid toward Seville. Padilla noted that the RENFE operator’s train struck the IRYO service, which had stopped on the tracks. The cause of the initial stoppage and the subsequent collision remains unknown to authorities.
The collision involved 397 passengers aboard the RENFE train and 147 on the IRYO train. Rail operator ADIF suspended service between Madrid, Ciudad Real, and Andalusia following the crash. The site was a flat stretch of track surrounded by fields, where one carriage was shattered into metal fragments.
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García described the scene as a tragedy due to the high speed of the impact. She indicated that emergency crews focused on extracting survivors and bodies from the two most damaged cars. Injured passengers were transported to various regional hospitals. A military emergency brigade joined firefighters and police at the site to assist with rescue operations.
IRYO, an Italian-owned private carrier, said it activated security protocols and coordinated with local officials. Manuel Galán, the mayor of Urda, reported that civil protection agencies requested a local sports pavilion be prepared to treat injured passengers. The crash marks the second major rail disaster in Spain this year.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez cancelled his schedule to address the accident. He posted on X that he was dismayed by the serious incident in Toledo and that his thoughts were with the victims and their families. Sánchez faces a national election next month. Regional President Emiliano García-Page traveled to the crash site to oversee the response.
In January, a similar derailment in southern Spain killed 45 people when a train jumped the track and struck an oncoming service. That incident was the deadliest in the country since 2013. Both January and October crashes involved the same two rail operators.
