Dozens of people have been killed after two high-speed trains crashed in Spain, with carriages derailing off the embankment.

The exact number of injured or casualties is yet to be confirmed as the emergency services continue to work at the scene between the towns of Los Yébenes and Urda, Toledo.

However, local authorities told Sky News that at least 39 people have lost their lives.

The Renfe Ave high-speed train had left Madrid at 8am to Seville when it collided with an Iryo train heading in the opposite direction. Both trains are thought to have carried more than 400 passengers.

Footage from the scene shows carriages strewn off the steep embankment, with debris and mangled cars along the railway.

Surviving passengers were seen scrambling for safety, while people are believed to be trapped inside the wreckage.

Two cars are understood to have fully derailed, while the other train appeared to have come off the tracks but remained upright on top of the embankment.

Eyewitnesses said they saw several people hurt as paramedics and firefighters rushed to the scene.

One survivor of the crash, Miguel Angel Perez Laguna, who escaped with minor scratches, described the impact as ‘tremendous.’

He told Capital Radio’s Laura Blanco: ‘That was a tremendous crash, and a very loud one at that.

‘The train completely overturned, all the carriages tipped to the left.’

The carriages were ‘destroyed’ with ‘nothing left inside.’

‘It was all horrifying,’ he added.

Crowds have gathered at nearby Atocha rail station looking for information about their loved ones.

Carlos Larquin said his aunt Silvia was travelling on the Iryo train to Seville on her own, but is no longer answering her phone.

He told El País: ‘I don’t know if she’s alive or injured because she isn’t picking up the phone. I have her ticket.’

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he is ‘shocked by the serious train accident.’

He said on X: ‘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.’

Adif, which runs Spain’s railway infrastructure, said: ‘Train traffic on the Madrid-Andalucía high-speed line has been interrupted due to a collision between two trains.

‘The incident occurred between Mora and Orgaz and Urda, at PK 118, between a Renfe train and another from the Iryo company, both covering the Madrid-Sevilla route.

‘All trains on this line are currently stopped at stations along the route. For more information, they should contact the various companies operating on it.’

The serious collision comes nine months after two trains crashed in Adamuz in Cordoba province, killing 46 people and leaving almost 300 injured in one of Spain’s worst rail disasters.

A six-year-old girl was the only survivor of her family, who were travelling home after watching the Lion King musical.

The first train, an Iryo high-speed service, derailed on a straight section of the track on January 18 before three of its carriages veered onto the opposite track.

A Renfe train carrying 200 people crashed into the derailed carriages some seconds later, causing cars to plunge down the 13ft embankment.

The Adamuz disaster was caused by a fracture in the rail, which had appeared before the crash, an investigation found.

Have you been affected or know someone at the scene? Please email noora.mykkanen@metro.co.uk

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our.

Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.

MORE: M2 closed during rush hour after serious crash

MORE: Dad and teenage sons killed in plane crash that left family ‘broken’ named

MORE: Major rush hour disruption on London Heathrow route after ‘casualty on tracks’