Horror in Spain

Two High-Speed Trains Collide—Numerous Injuries

After the collision of two high-speed trains, numerous injured people had to be treated.(Bild: EPA/ISMAEL HERRERO)

Serious train accident in Spain! On Wednesday morning, two trains collided on a high-speed rail line south of Madrid. Numerous people were injured, and two train cars plunged down an embankment. Rail service between the Spanish capital and Andalusia was subsequently completely suspended. Civil protection authorities are already reporting 46 fatalities.

The accident occurred on Wednesday morning near the town of Los Yébenes in the province of Toledo. According to initial reports, a high-speed train operated by the state-owned railway company Renfe and a train operated by the private provider Iryo were involved. As reported by the Spanish newspaper “El País,” the two trains collided.

Two cars plunged down an embankment
Particularly dramatic: According to the Spanish news agency EFE, the force of the collision caused two cars of the Iryo train to plunge down an embankment. According to emergency services, numerous people were injured. The severity of their injuries was not immediately known.

The death toll could still rise, said a spokeswoman for the Castile-La Mancha region. All available resources were being dispatched to the scene of the accident, according to a spokesperson for the emergency services. Rescue helicopters, firefighters, and mobile intensive care units were on the scene.

Manuel Galáns, mayor of the nearby town of Urda, told the state television station TVE that numerous injured passengers needed medical attention at the scene. Civil protection authorities asked his municipal administration to prepare a sports hall to care for the passengers.

Major Rail Line Completely Closed
The Spanish rail network operator Adif confirmed the collision and suspended high-speed service between Madrid and Andalusia until further notice.

This has disrupted a major rail connection between the capital and southern Spain. It was initially unclear how long the closure would last. The exact cause of the accident was also unknown at first. Authorities did not initially provide further details on the circumstances of the collision.

This is already the second fatal train accident this year
Just this past January, 46 people lost their lives on this very same route—that incident also involved a collision between two high-speed trains.
This also brings back memories of the train accident in July 2013. At that time, a Spanish Alvia express train derailed on a tight curve shortly before reaching the station in Santiago de Compostela.

The train was traveling at nearly 180 km/h, even though the speed limit at that location was only 80 km/h because the automatic braking system (ERTMS) had not yet been fully installed. In the devastating disaster, which was caused by the train driver’s inattention, 80 people died and over 140 were injured.