URDA: Spain began three days of national mourning Thursday after a collision between two high-speed trains near Urda, in Toledo province, killed at least 68 people and injured dozens, as investigators examined how the crash occurred.
Rescue teams worked through the night under powerful floodlights, cutting through damaged carriages to search for victims. Many of those killed had yet to be identified, while emergency crews used drones and helicopters to locate victims and clear debris from the wreckage.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the country was grieving alongside the victims’ families.
“Whole of Spain is grieving,” Sánchez said, adding that “lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, the pain is immense.”
How the two trains collided?
The crash involved a train operated by private rail company Iryo and another operated by state-owned Renfe. Iryo said its train, which was carrying 147 passengers, was struck from behind by the Renfe train.
The impact derailed several carriages, some of which fell down an embankment. The Renfe train was carrying 397 passengers, according to the information provided by officials.
Passengers described a chaotic scene inside the carriages, with people crying, bleeding and trapped in their seats. Witnesses also reported smoke and said one carriage caught fire.
Investigators examine possible safety failure
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a failure involving the railway safety system had left the Iryo train stopped. He said the central control center in Madrid then authorized the Renfe train to resume traveling at normal speed without restrictions, despite the other train remaining stationary.
Puente described the decision as “inexplicable.” Reported audio recordings of communications between train controllers appeared to show the Renfe train being cleared to move while the Iryo train was stopped ahead.
Authorities have not announced a final cause for the collision. Investigators are examining the sequence of events, including the reported safety-system failure and the decision to allow the Renfe train to continue.
Spain faces another deadly rail disaster
The crash comes after another major rail disaster in January, when a train accident near Córdoba killed 46 people on the same line farther south.
Sánchez called it unacceptable that Spain had suffered two serious rail disasters in the same year. The latest collision has renewed questions about railway safety as authorities work to establish what went wrong.
Political parties suspend campaigning
Most political parties suspended their election campaigns following the crash, while the far-right Vox party said it would continue its activities.
Vox leader Santiago Abascal said his party would not take part in what he described as attempts to “use mourning to silence criticism” of the country’s rail infrastructure.
As rescue and recovery efforts continued, authorities faced the difficult task of identifying victims, supporting families and determining how the collision happened.
