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Emergency services work at the scene of a collision between two trains in Urda, Spain Alamy Stock Photo
Toledo
Two high-speed trains crash in Spain, leaving at least 68 people dead
More than 100 people have been injured and many of them have been taken to hospital.
LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago
SPANISH PRIME MINISTER Pedro Sánchez said the country will observe three days of mourning after Spain’s second high-speed train collision this year killed at least 68 people.
The two high-speed trains collided in central Spain on Wednesday morning.
The crash involved two passenger trains and occurred around 130km south of Madrid near Urda in the province of Toledo, according to Spain’s rail network management agency Adif.
“All of Spain is in mourning,” Sanchez said from the scene in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, adding that it was “not acceptable for a country like Spain” to suffer two such disasters in the same year.
A spokeswoman from the Castilla-La Mancha government said that more than 100 people had been injured. Of them, 58 had been taken to hospital, with 15 in a critical condition.
The collision came after one train was ordered to go despite a technical failure that saw all trains halted, the transport minister said, calling it “inexplicable”.
“The decision to resume traffic, while that system had not been restored, belongs to the control centre, and the control centre … took the decision to resume traffic in circumstances that, from our point of view, are inexplicable,” Oscar Puente said.
Footage posted on social media showed wreckage on a hillside by the tracks where the two trains collided on the Madrid-Seville line.
A local government spokesperson said one train ran into the tail of the other, which had stopped, knocking two of its cars off the track.
The crash, which occurred in a flat stretch surrounded by fields between the towns of Urda and Los Yebenes, left one car shredded into bits of metal and other material, scattering debris down a gravel slope.
Spanish health minister Mónica García told TVE that emergency workers were focusing on rescuing survivors and bodies from the two most damaged train cars. She said that the injured are being sent to different hospitals in the area.
“It was a high-speed impact, so we are expecting this to be a tragedy,” Garcia said.
Sánchez said he was “shocked” by what he called “a serious train accident”.
“Emergency services are working on the ground to assist those affected and ensure their safety, in coordination with all the involved administrations,” he said in a post on social media.
“My affection, solidarity and support to all the victims and their families.”
🔴DIRECTO | “Puede ser peor que Adamuz”, señalan fuentes gubernamentales. Sigue aquí la última hora en directo https://t.co/XpTNvYQGdD https://t.co/2BXPdS6EFT
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) October 28, 2026
A spokesperson for the Spanish emergency services told AFP the trains collided just before 9am (8am Irish time).
“All resources are currently being deployed,” the spokesperson said, including “several fire crews, three helicopters and two mobile intensive care units”.
García-Page arrived at the site of the crash and said that his government’s agenda had been suspended.
All trains services on the line have been suspended.
Today’s crash comes less than a year after a railway disaster in Adamuz, Cordoba, when a high-speed passenger train derailed and left 46 people dead. That accident happened on the same line linking Madrid to Seville.
A government source told the El País newspaper that today’s accident “could be worse than Adamuz”.
The accident comes one month before Sánchez, 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.
‘Deepest condolences’
World leaders and foreign ministers from around the world have shared their condolences and expressed their support for the people of Spain following the crash.
Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee has said her thoughts are with the people of Spain.
“Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims. My Department, including our Embassy in Madrid, stands ready to provide consular assistance should it be needed,” she wrote in a post on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s “deepest sympathies” were with the Spanish people and Sanchez, calling the crash “a shocking disaster”.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed her “profound condolences” to Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said he was “profoundly grieved” by the news of the accident.
“We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. Pakistan stands with Spain in its hour of sorrow,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted a similar message and said his country was working to provide support to any Canadians affected.
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s minister for foreign affairs, also offered his country’s condolences.
“In these difficult moments, Poland stands in solidarity with Spain and its people. We stand with you,” he said.
The foreign ministers of Israel, Czechia and Germany, among others, have also sent condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as well as the people of Spain.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced 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.
With reporting from AFP
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