Spain – At least 64 people have died in a collision between two high-speed trains in Spain’s Toledo province, the Castilla-La Mancha regional government said Wednesday. Earlier reports put the death toll at at least 30, and a local official said the number was expected to rise.
The crash occurred shortly before 9:15 a.m. on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line between Urda and Los Yébenes, about 150 kilometres south of Madrid. A Renfe train struck the rear of a stationary Iryo train travelling in the same direction, derailing two carriages. Transport Minister Esther Padilla said the Renfe service was carrying 397 passengers and the Iryo train 147. The stationary train was hit at more than 100 kilometres per hour.
Officials have not confirmed the cause. An official briefed on the accident said the Iryo train had stopped at a signal when it was struck. One passenger in a rear carriage described a huge thud that lasted about 10 seconds.
Authorities set up an emergency phone line for victims’ families. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez cancelled his schedule for the day to focus on the disaster, and the line between Madrid and Andalusia was closed.
The collision comes 10 months after a crash on the same line involving trains run by the same two operators. In January, 45 people were killed and 120 injured when an Iryo train derailed and hit an oncoming Renfe service near Adamuz in southern Spain. That was the deadliest rail accident in Spain since a 2013 crash that killed 80 people, and it shook public confidence in the country’s high-speed network — the largest in Europe. The latest disaster has raised fresh questions about its safety.
Source : BBC
