Ten reported dead after two trains collide in Spain – latest updates

At least 10 people are feared dead and many more injured after two high-speed trains collided in Toledo province in central Spain.

Spain’s state rail infrastructure authority said services between Madrid and the southern region of Andalucía had been suspended “⁠following a rear-end collision between two trains” on Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha region, where the crash occurred, said the cause and ‌ number of injuries were yet to be determined.

Government sources told El País at least 10 people had been killed, and that the crash could be worse than the Adamuz rail disaster in January in which 46 people were killed.

Spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente has only issued a brief holding statement for now:

“In the [emergency] control center since 9:40 trying to obtain all possible information about what happened.”

We will no doubt hear from him later today.

The two affected trains are understood to have been travelling on the high-speed Madrid–Seville line.

Esther Padilla, spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha region, told RTVE it appeared that one of the trains may have stopped before the incident.

The cause of the incident will be obviously thoroughly investigated.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez responded to the crash on X:

“Shocked by the serious train accident in Toledo. I remain in constant contact with the Minister of Transport, @oscar_puente_, and with the president of Castilla-La Mancha, @garciapage.

Emergency services are working on the ground to assist those affected and ensure their safety, in coordination with all the involved administrations. My affection, solidarity, and support to all the victims and their families.”

Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo on X:

“Very concerned about the information we are getting about a new rail accident. The priority now is to attend to the victims and support their families. My full support to the emergency teams working on the ground.”

Spain’s health minister Mónica García just appeared on RTVE Noticias with a brief update on the incident.

She said there are no further details regarding the number of fatalities and affected, as the focus is on ensuring proper care to all injured, with hospitals freeing up resources whenever possible to allocate them to this incident.

But she conceded – and repeated twice - that it was “a high-impact accident, and we fear this will turn out to be a major tragedy.”

Today’s accident evokes grim echoes of this January’s tragedy in Adamuz, where 46 people killed and 152 were injured after two high-speed trains crashed in Adamuz, the province of Córdoba.

A few days later, a driver was killed and 37 people injured when a train was derailed by the collapse of a retaining wall near Gelida in Catalonia.

Following the Adamuz train crash earlier this year, Spain’s largest train drivers’ union called for a three-day nationwide strike as it demanded more thorough safety checks and “the restoration of safety standards on the railway system.”

But with almost 4,000km of track, Spain’s high-speed railway network ranks as the largest in Europe and the second biggest in the world after China, according to the Spanish infrastructure administrator Adif.

The network is tremendously popular, competitively priced and generally considered a safe mode of transport. In 2024, Renfe said more than 25 million passengers had travelled on its high-speed trains that year.

But in another major incident in 2013, 80 people died after a train derailed in the country’s north-west near Santiago de Compostela. An investigation concluded the train was travelling at 179km/h on a stretch of the line with an 80km/h speed limit when it left the tracks.

We are getting first pictures from the scene now…

Local government spokesperson told TVE that the death toll “will almost certainly rise.”

“We know that the number of fatalities and injuries will continue to rise. We are prepared to provide the best possible care as quickly as we can, but the situation … is likely to worsen.”

She said the affected trains are likely to be Iryo 7076 with 146 passengers plus one baby on board, and AVE 2080 with 397 passengers on board, El País reported.