RismadarVoice Reporters
October 29, 2026
The death toll from a devastating collision involving two high-speed trains in central Spain has risen to 69, as emergency workers continue searching through the wreckage for possible survivors and additional victims.
The accident occurred on Wednesday, October 28, near Urda in Toledo province, approximately 150 kilometres south of Madrid, when a high-speed train operated by Spain’s state-owned railway company, Renfe, crashed into the rear of a stationary train belonging to private operator Iryo.
Authorities confirmed the revised death toll on Thursday, while regional officials disclosed that 50 injured passengers remained hospitalised after 60 others were discharged.
Emergency response teams, including firefighters, police officers, military personnel and medical workers, have been deployed to the scene.
Rescuers are using cranes, specialised equipment, sniffer dogs and thermal drones to search damaged carriages and recover victims trapped beneath the debris.
The collision caused several train carriages to derail, leaving wreckage scattered along the railway and down a nearby embankment.
Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said preliminary findings indicated that a computer communications failure had triggered an automatic halt of trains operating along the affected route.
However, a Renfe train was subsequently authorised to resume its journey at normal speed despite another train remaining stationary ahead.
Puente described the decision as inexplicable, although authorities have yet to establish the final cause of the disaster.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who visited the crash site, pledged a comprehensive investigation and announced three days of national mourning in honour of the victims.
The tragedy comes nine months after another high-speed rail collision near Adamuz, in southern Spain, killed 46 people in January.
The latest accident has renewed concerns about the safety and maintenance of Spain’s extensive high-speed railway network.
The Spanish train drivers’ union, SEMAF, proceeded with a previously scheduled strike on Thursday, demanding improvements in railway safety and structural reforms.
The union cautioned against speculation about the collision’s causes until investigators establish the circumstances surrounding the accident.
As rescue and recovery operations continue, authorities are working to identify the deceased, assist grieving families and determine the sequence of events that led to one of Europe’s deadliest railway disasters in recent years.
