MADRID, SPAIN – The death toll from a high-speed train collision south of Madrid on Wednesday has more than doubled to 64, with Spanish regional authorities warning the figure is likely to increase further.
“We are speaking of approximately 64 (dead), but this is probably going to grow even more,” the leader of the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano Garcia-Page, told reporters at the scene.
The two trains collided just before 9:00 in the municipality of Urda, around 130 km south of Madrid. Another 80 people were injured in the crash.
AFP reporters at the scene in Castilla-La Mancha saw one train embedded into another and some carriages lying on their side in tangles of metal debris at the bottom of an embankment. Dozens of emergency services vehicles were racing to and from the site and helicopters hovered above during a frantic search for survivors.
Garcia-Page said earlier that more victims were likely as “it has not yet been possible to reach the bottom of the carriages”.
State railway operator Renfe confirmed in a statement that the main high-speed line from Madrid to southern Spain had been suspended after one of its services suffered an accident with a train from private Spanish company Iryo.
Rail safety under scrutiny
The accident comes one month before Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who faced heavy criticism for this year’s first disaster, seeks to overturn unfavourable polls and extend his eight-year premiership in an early general election on 29 November.
Sanchez said on X that he was “shocked” by the accident and sent “my love, solidarity and support to all the victims and their families”. He cancelled his participation in a summit on obesity in Madrid after the news broke, while his Socialist party suspended all its campaign activities.
Wednesday’s accident comes after another collision between two high-speed trains outside the southern village of Adamuz in January left 46 dead, which raised major questions about safety on the country’s railways.
That crash was Spain’s deadliest train accident since 2013, when 80 people died after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.
Both of this year’s accidents happened on the line linking Madrid to the southern city of Seville. One of the country’s busiest routes, it was Spain’s first high-speed line when it opened in 1992 to coincide with the Seville universal exposition.
Spain’s high-speed rail network has received huge investment in recent years, growing to become the world’s second-largest after China and a source of national pride.
Reactions
Condolences flooded in from across Spain and Europe. The Spanish royal household said on X it was “shocked and concerned” by the accident, conveying its support to the victims, their loved ones and the emergency services.
An EU spokeswoman said the bloc was “ready to help Spain if needed”, while European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said “Europe mourns” with the victims after the “devastating news”.
The Spanish Football Federation announced on Wednesday the postponement of 24 matches in the first round of the Copa del Rey “as a mark of respect and solidarity” with the victims.
“The entire Spanish football family stands united in grief over this tragedy and stands ready to assist the authorities in helping the victims of this devastating accident,” the RFEF said in a statement published on its website.
The federation added that it will “provide further details in due course regarding the revised tournament schedule and the final kick-off times for the postponed matches”.
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