The Spanish prime minister has declared three days of mourning after at least 68 people were killed and dozens more injured in a collision between two high-speed trains in central Spain.
The trains were travelling in the same direction on the line that stretches from the Spanish capital, Madrid, to Seville on Wednesday when one of the trains ran into the tail of the other that had stopped, knocking several carriages off the track.
The tragedy marked the second deadly train accident this year in Spain.
“All of Spain is in mourning,” the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said from the scene in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha. It was “unacceptable for a country like Spain to suffer two high-speed train accidents in the same year, as we have”, he said.
Spanish authorities initially reported 10 deaths, but Esther Padilla, spokeswoman for the Castilla-La Mancha region, said “that number will surely rise”.
Spanish state-owned news agency EFE and other media later reported that the death toll had risen to at least 68.
Another 73 people needed medical treatment in hospital, including 15 who were in serious condition.
It is the second major train accident in Spain this year.
Spain’s rail system operator ADIF said the crash occurred on Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo. Rail services were suspended between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia.
Two trains travelling in same direction
Ms Padilla told state broadcaster TVE that the collision involved two high-speed trains carrying hundreds of passengers and travelling in the same direction from Madrid to Seville in south-western Spain.
One train struck the rear of the other, which had stopped, derailing two of its carriages. She said the cause of the crash was not known.
The crash occurred on a flat stretch of track surrounded by fields between the towns of Urda and Los Yébenes. One carriage was reduced to twisted metal, with debris scattered down a gravel slope.
Spanish health minister Monica Garcia told TVE that emergency workers were focusing on rescuing survivors and recovering bodies from the two most damaged carriages. She said injured passengers were being taken to hospitals in the area.
“It was a high-speed impact, so we are expecting this to be a tragedy,” Ms Garcia said.
The accident involved a train operated by Spain’s state-owned RENFE and another operated by private rail company IRYO.
Spanish media reported that the RENFE train appeared to have rammed the IRYO train.
Trains operated by the two companies were also involved in a deadly crash in January.
Ms Padilla said 397 passengers were on the RENFE train and 147 on the IRYO train.
IRYO, an Italian-owned company, said in a statement that it had “activated its security protocols and is closely working with authorities”.
Emergency services at scene
The mayor of nearby Urda, Manuel Galan, told TVE that civil protection authorities had asked his town hall to prepare a sports pavilion to accommodate injured passengers.
A military emergency brigade was deployed to assist emergency services, firefighters and police at the crash site.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez cancelled his schedule to focus on the crash. He wrote on X that he was “dismayed by the serious train accident in Toledo”.
“Emergency services are working on site to attend to the affected passengers,” Mr Sanchez wrote.
“All my thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Consternado ante el grave accidente de trenes en Toledo. Permanezco en constante contacto con el ministro de Transportes, @oscar_puente_, y con el presidente de Castilla-La Mancha, @garciapage.
Los servicios de emergencia están trabajando sobre el terreno para atender a las…
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) October 28, 2026
The regional president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano Garcia-Page, wrote on X that he was travelling to the crash site.
Second deadly crash in Spain this year
In January, 45 people died in southern Spain when a train derailed and struck an oncoming train.
That crash was the deadliest in Spain since a 2013 rail disaster that killed 80 people.
The January incident shook confidence in the country’s extensive high-speed rail network.
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