At least 46 people are feared dead with dozens more injured after two trains collided in Spain this morning.
According to reports, the crash occurred between the towns of Los Yebenes and Urda, in the Toledo province in central Spain, shortly before 9am local time (8am UK time) on Wednesday.
The regional government in Castilla-La Mancha said 30 people had died while varies news outlets stated it could rise above 46.
Spanish rail infrastructure manager Adif said the entire line from Madrid to the southern Andalusia region had been suspended “following a rear-end collision between two trains”.
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said he was “shocked by the serious train accident in Toledo” and added that he and members of his government had cancelled their scheduled public engagements for the day.
Andy Burnham said his thoughts are with everybody in Spain who has been affected by the devastating train crash this morning”. The Prime Minister told the Commons: “I have been in touch with [Spanish] prime minister Sánchez to relay our condolences and offer any support that we can.”
Images posted online from inside the train wreckage showed a mangled train carriage on the side of the bank, with passengers describing an “apocalyptic” scene.
Death toll rises as hospitals brace for influx of patients
Spanish media outlet , citing civil protection sources, have reported that at least 46 people had been killed with more than 100 others injured and said these figures may rise.
Spain’s Efe news agency and multiple other media outlets reported that “a minimum” of 30 people had died, citing regional government sources.
Esther Padilla, spokeswoman for the regional government of Castilla La Mancha, said earlier that one of the trains – managed by the private Iryo rail company – was carrying 146 passengers plus one baby, while the other train, managed by state-owned Renfe, had 397 passengers on board.
The regional president of Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, said 24 of the 30 people confirmed to have died were on the Renfe train, with the six others from the Iryo train.
He warned that the death toll could rise and added that at least 80 people were injured.
Almost 100 personnel from Spain’s emergency military service arrived at the scene, offering support to police, fire crews, ambulances and the civil guard in the form of “search and rescue capabilities, canine units, and extrication tools, not to mention the medical and psychological support teams”.
Following the crash, an “urgent” call for blood donations was issued by Madrid’s regional blood supply coordinator. The appeal was launched in case of a “sudden increase in care needs” by the Community of Madrid’s Blood Transfusion Centre.
The Toledo Blood Bank is also appealing for donations, according to Spanish media.
Meanwhile Efe news agency reported that hospital facilities in Toledo, Ciudad Real and Alcázar de San Juan have cancelled planned surgeries in order to deal with casualties arriving from the crash.
‘It’s apocalyptic’ – passengers describe ‘horrific’ crash
Sebastián Herrero, a 46-year-old from Seville, was traveling in carriage seven of the Iryo train that departed from Madrid at 7.54am, bound for Seville.
He said: “There are three Iryo train carriages – the three at the very end – from which they keep pulling people out and covering them with sheets. Bodies. It’s apocalyptic. It’s hard to imagine that anyone could still be alive in those three carriages. It’s a twisted mass of metal. It’s as if a bomb had gone off.”
Jesús Jerónimo, a 54-year-old medical consultant, who was traveling in the second carriage of a Seville-bound Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) train – Spain’s high-speed rail service operated by Renfe – told newspaper: “I was working on my laptop when I felt an incredibly violent jolt, and I slammed into the seat in front of me.
“People were thrown from their seats. We thought we had derailed. Then, little by little, we managed to get out and saw that our train was tilted. There were many injured people, and everyone was very shaken. I saw papers scattered on the floor, and a child who appeared to be unharmed.
Jerónimo added: “Right now, we’re helping the emergency services — holding up IV bags by hand… The firefighters, meanwhile, are working on the part of the train that was most severely damaged.”
Tourists heading from Madrid to Seville were among the passengers on the affected trains. A number of Americans were reportedly on board, with US embassy staff understood to have gone to the scene.
“We are shocked, it’s like I was flying from my seat,” said Frederic Barrileia, a 43-year-old from the Philippines who said he was in carriage four of the Iryo train.
Patricia, a passenger who said she was pregnant, told Cope radio: “Outside the window, I saw one of the carriages that had fallen and was completely burned out. One of the carriages has a rail running through it, and I think it’s the carriage that was in front of mine.”
Jesús Pérez Martín, mayor of nearby town Los Yébenes, said emergency services had mounted a major response after the collision.
He described the scene as “horrific”, and added that the police said this was a serious tragedy.
“They are telling me about mutilations and very serious injuries,” he TVE state television.
Rail operators launch ‘all emergency protocols’ as most government events cancelled
Iryo, the operator of one of the trains involved in the crash, said it launched “all emergency protocols” after the incident.
“This morning, our train 6076, traveling from Madrid to Seville, was involved in an accident near Urda, at kilometre point 118,” the company said in a statement. “Iryo has activated all emergency protocols and is working closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.”
Renfe, the Spanish state-owned operator of the other train involved in the incident, offered its “deepest condolences to the family members and loved ones of the victims”, adding in a statement: “We also wish a speedy recovery to all those who have been injured.”
Most political parties in Spain have cancelled campaign events scheduled for today, a month out from the country’s general election on 29 November. Far-right party Vox has declined to do so, with its leader Santiago Abascal saying Vox would not take part in what he described as attempts to “use mourning to silence criticism” of Spain’s rail infrastructure.
What caused the collision?
The cause of the collision has not been officially confirmed, but it has been reported that one train “rammed” into the other.
The train in front is said to have been stationary at the time of the crash, reportedly due to an issue with the tracks.
The Renfe-managed train rear-ended the Iryo train causing two carriages of the latter to derail, broadcaster RTVE said, quoting the Spanish transport ministry.
Renfe is Spain’s national state-owned railway operator, with Iryo – which has been operating in Spain since 2022 – jointly owned by Italian and Spanish companies, including Italy’s state-owned rail company Trenitalia which has a 51 per cent share.
Why does Spain have so many train crashes?
It is the latest in a string of severe collisions in the country, coming less than nine months after 46 people died when two high-speed trains crashed near Adamuz in Andalusia.
In 2013, Spain made international headlines when 80 people died and 140 were left injured following a derailment on a high-speed train in Santiago de Compostela in the north-west of the country.
The train’s data recorder showed that it had been travelling at twice the speed limit when it entered a curve on the track.
After that, only seven people died in the country between 2015 and 2024 due to derailing and collisions, according to data from European statistics agency Eurostat. A further 37 were seriously injured in this time frame.
The deadliest rail collisions in Spain’s history
(Year) Location – number of people who died
(1984) Villajoyosa – 28
(1988) Valladolid – 30
(1988) Juneda – 23
(1989) Arevalo – 44
(2006) Valencia – 43
(2013) Santiago de Compostela – 79
(2026) Adamuz – 46
(2026) Toledo – 46** according to current reports
Although serious injuries and deaths due to collisions and derailments remained low in the country, a total of 192 rail accidents were recorded in 2023, representing an increase of almost 10 per cent compared to the previous year.
Of these, there was a decrease of approximately 18 per cent in serious accidents compared to 2022.
Between 2015 and 2024, Germany (119), Greece (84) and the Czech Republic (80) were the top three European countries with the most fatalities and serious injuries caused by derailments and collisions, with Spain (44) fourth on that list.
However, the country has a more extensive high-speed rail network than those listed, with tracks spanning over 3,400km.
Indeed, Spain’s high-speed network is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world after China.