MADRID, Spain – At least 64 people have died and another 80 have been injured on Wednesday when two high-speed trains, a Renfe AVE and an Iryo convoy, collided near Urda in Toledo, according to the Castilla-La Mancha government. The scale of the crash, which caused two carriages to derail, has forced the deployment of a large emergency operation and the suspension of high-speed services between Madrid and Andalusia, according to Adif.
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The accident occurred at 8.54am at kilometre point 118, between Mora and Urda. One of the trains involved is a Renfe AVE that had left Madrid at 8am bound for Seville, while the other belongs to the company Iryo. Of the fatalities, 24 were travelling on the former and six on the latter, according to the breakdown known so far. The Iryo 6076 was carrying 146 passengers and a baby, while the AVE 2080 was carrying 397 people.
As for the injured, the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, detailed that 30 have minor injuries and around 50 have wounds of varying severity, while “there are also some” patients classified as red level, the most serious.
According to initial reports, the AVE had stopped and reduced its speed minutes before the crash due to a traffic problem on the line. The Ministry of Transport and Adif are working on the hypothesis that the accident could be due to “human error by an Adif operator in the face of a failure of the main signalling system”, although the definitive cause of the collision has not been confirmed for now.
The force of the impact caused the last three carriages at the tail of the Iryo to derail and fall down an embankment. In a video recorded from inside one of the trains, a burnt-out carriage can be seen, one of the images reflecting the severity of the accident. One of the passengers on the crashed AVE, communicator Miguel Ángel Pérez Laguna, recounted on Capital Radio that the impact was “tremendously strong” and that the fuselage of the Iryo train “shot off” from “one side to the other”, and despite travelling in one of the last carriages of the convoy he assured that he felt the blow as if it had been “in front of him”.
Firefighters from the Alcázar de San Juan and Orgaz stations, Civil Protection personnel from several nearby municipalities, three medical helicopters and two mobile ICU units have been deployed to the scene, according to sources from the 112 Emergency Service. The Interior Ministry has also activated the deployment of the Military Emergency Unit at the request of the Castilla-La Mancha government to collaborate in the emergency work after the rail accident.
The University Hospital of Toledo is preparing to receive the injured from the rail accident and has already treated the first patient evacuated by helicopter, while awaiting the arrival of more affected people by ambulance. To deal with the emergency, the centre has freed up beds in intensive care units and hospitalisation wards, as well as enabling operating theatres to give priority to the victims, with the Urgent Care car park cleared to facilitate access for medical vehicles and an urgent call made for blood donations. The Integrated Operational Coordination Centre remains in session to assess the situation, coordinate the resources mobilised and monitor the emergency work.
Urda City Council has enabled a municipal pavilion to care for those affected by the rail accident, and the helpline 900 10 10 20 has been set up for relatives and friends of passengers on the crashed trains to request information about their loved ones.
The mayor of Los Yébenes, a municipality near the collision, said the first reports point to a “serious accident”, with the crash having occurred between that town and Urda in a Mediterranean forest area of the Montes de Toledo, about eight kilometres from the latter. While trying to access the site, the mayor sent the Local Police and placed all municipal resources at the disposal of the emergency services, specifying that the collaboration of residents is not considered necessary for now given the large deployment of personnel already working on the ground.
Resources have also been mobilised from Madrid to collaborate in caring for those affected, with the City Council sending firefighters and Samur personnel who are on their way to Los Yébenes station, while the Community of Madrid has deployed eight fire crews and eight SUMMA 112 resources, with the Madrid Security and Emergency Agency having set up a psychosocial care point for victims and relatives at Atocha station.
The president of Castilla-La Mancha is heading to the accident site to learn first-hand about the situation and follow the work of the emergency teams. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has expressed his consternation at the crash and assured that he remains in constant contact with Transport Minister Óscar Puente and with García-Page, expressing his affection, solidarity and support for all the victims and their families.
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The accident has also led to the cancellation of the agendas of the prime minister and several ministers, who have suspended their events to follow the evolution of the crash, with most opposition parties including the PP and Frente Amplio having suspended their activity, although Vox leader Santiago Abascal has decided to maintain his electoral agenda. Rail traffic remains interrupted on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line and, for now, Adif has not specified when service can be restored.
