Dozens Dead After High-Speed Train Crashes in Spain

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Members of the emergency and rescue services work beside a train carriage pierced by a track rail at the site of a train crash between two high-speed units, a Renfe AVE train and an Iryo train around 150 km south of Madrid between Urda and Los Yebenes in the province of Toledo, on October 28, 2026. A high-speed train collision south of Madrid killed 68 people and injured scores more today, with the toll likely to rise, authorities said, in one of Europe's deadliest such disasters this century. The second such accident to strike Spain this year will raise fresh questions about the country's rail safety, with the transport minister speaking of an "error" and "inexplicable circumstances" that led to the collision. (Photo by Oscar DEL POZO / AFP via Getty Images)

A Spanish high-speed train crashed into a stationary train Wednesday morning outside Madrid leaving at least 68 people dead.

The tragedy is the second fatal rail crash in Spain this year.

High-Speed Collision

“All of Spain” is in mourning after Wednesday’s devastating accident, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

According to early reports, a train from private company IRYO and one from the state-owned RENFE were both heading south on the high-speed line between Madrid and Seville around 8:30 a.m. After security systems failed, both trains were stopped. Moments later, RENFE resumed at normal speed, while IRYO remained stopped on the track about 15.6 miles away. At 8:53 a.m. the stopped IRYO train was struck from behind by the RENFE train, sending cars off track and leaving both trains heavily damaged.

“The Renfe train continued on its way as instructed, and a collision occurred. The exact sequence of events, the traffic conditions and the circumstances of the impact will have to be established by the investigation,” Renfe said in a statement following the deadly accident.

Sanchez called the accident a “terrible tragedy” and vowed to address any failures following an investigation.

“If we need to further strengthen safety in order to rebuild confidence in our high-speed rail system, we will do so, because what is unacceptable for a ​country like Spain is to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year,” Sanchez said.

First-Hand Accounts

British tourist Samy Paul told The Associated Press, “Suddenly, everything started falling apart. Bang! We fell down. We realized carriage two, carriage one, all gone, all smashed. There was blood all over.”

Another witness, David Gómez, a construction worker who was nearby at the time of the crash, told El País, “People were trying to get out through the windows.”

He added, “We cut through some fences to access the area and treated people with the first-aid kits we had brought until emergency services arrived. As I was trying to pull a young woman out, there was a piece of a leg.”

Rescue efforts continued into the night as first responders searched for other victims among the rubble. In addition to the 68 dead, 80 others were reportedly injured, 15 of them seriously.

A government spokesperson said 147 people were on board the Iryo train and 397 on the RENFE train.