A Renfe high-speed train ran into the back of a stationary Iryo train near Urda, in Toledo province south of Madrid, on Wednesday, Oct. 28. ABC News reported that 69 people were killed, citing the office of the president and the Transport Ministry. Earlier figures varied as the day went on: 30 in early reports, then 64 and 68, the latter given by Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page. ABC News also reported that the Interior Ministry had said the toll rose to 74 before the figure was revised down to 69.
The collision happened shortly before 9 a.m. at kilometre 118 of the Madrid-Seville line, according to Mercopress and AFP. Both trains were travelling from Madrid to Seville. A regional government spokesperson said 147 people were on the Iryo train and 397 on the Renfe service. Two Iryo carriages derailed, and at least three carriages went down an embankment, according to Reuters. García-Page said 24 of the dead were on the Renfe train and the rest on the Iryo train.
García-Page said 15 people were seriously injured. Spain's health minister, Mónica García, put the number of injured at 80, while Mercopress reported 58 people hospitalised. Mercopress said the Military Emergencies Unit deployed 200 personnel, and ABC News said rescuers were using search dogs in the wreckage.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a communication fault in three computers disabled the LZB control and safety system over a 63-kilometre stretch and automatically stopped six trains. Adif's control centre at Atocha station then authorised the Renfe train to proceed despite a red signal and with no speed limit, he said. According to Mercopress, the train covered about 25 kilometres at close to 200 km/h. Puente said another train driver had told the controller the order should be to proceed on sight at no more than 40 km/h. He called the decision "inexplicable" and ruled out resigning for now.
Renfe said the Iryo train had stopped "for reasons we don't know" and that its own train continued as instructed. Reuters said Iryo and Adif did not respond to requests for comment. The Civil Guard and the Railway Accident Investigation Commission are questioning the operator who was managing traffic, according to Mercopress.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the site and declared three days of official mourning. He said any negligence would come to light and that the causes of this crash and the January one appeared unrelated. In January, a train derailed and hit an oncoming train near Adamuz, in Córdoba province, killing 46 people. Both crashes involved Renfe and Iryo trains on the same line. The latest is Europe's deadliest rail accident since the 2013 Santiago de Compostela derailment, which killed 80.
The Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line remains suspended with no reopening date, and the drivers' union Semaf kept in place a strike called for Thursday over rail safety, Mercopress reported. Sánchez faces a general election on Nov. 29, and parties suspended campaign events, according to AFP and Reuters.
