Gambiaj.com – (MADRID, SPAIN). At least 64 people have been killed and about 80 others injured after two trains collided in central Spain on Wednesday morning, according to regional authorities in Castilla la Mancha who spoke to RTVE, El País and Reuters.
It makes it a deadlier incident than this January’s Adamuz crash on the same line, and the third worst train disaster in Spain since the seventies
The crash occurred at about 8:54 a.m. in Castilla-La Mancha, around 150 kilometers south of Madrid, involving a train operated by private company Iryo and another operated by Spain’s national railway company Renfe.
Emergency services deployed firefighters, three helicopters and two mobile intensive-care units to the scene. Television footage showed several carriages derailed and lying below an embankment, while shaken passengers were seen carrying their luggage along a nearby road.
Authorities warned that the death toll could rise as rescue teams continued working to reach passengers trapped in the wreckage. The cause of the collision was not immediately known.
The high-speed rail line between Madrid and Andalusia was suspended following the crash. Renfe said it had opened a crisis support center for victims’ families and was gathering information to assess the full scale of the disaster.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the incident as a “serious accident” and expressed support for the victims and their families. He cancelled an appearance at an obesity summit in Madrid, while his Socialist Party suspended campaign activities for the day.
The accident comes less than a year after a high-speed train collision in Adamuz, Andalusia, killed 46 people and injured more than 100 others, renewing concerns in Spain over railway safety and infrastructure maintenance.
The latest crash has also disrupted public life, with the Spanish Football Federation postponing all 24 Copa del Rey matches scheduled for Wednesday evening.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed solidarity with Spain, saying the European Union was ready to provide “all its help” to the Spanish authorities. French President Emmanuel Macron also conveyed France’s solidarity following what he described as a “terrible tragedy”.
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