30 killed as high-speed trains collide in central Spain

Thirty people died when a high-speed train struck the rear of a stopped train in central Spain on Wednesday morning. The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha reported the death toll to the Agence France-Presse news agency.

The collision occurred in the province of Toledo, according to the state rail operator ADIF. Transportation minister Padilla told state broadcaster TVE that two trains traveling in the same direction from Madrid to Seville were involved. One train hit the tail of the other while it was stationary, causing two cars to derail. She stated that the cause of the crash remains unknown.

The accident involved a RENFE train carrying 397 passengers and a private IRYO train with 147 passengers. These two operators were also involved in a deadly crash in January.

Rail service was suspended between Madrid, Ciudad Real, and Andalusia following the incident. Emiliano García-Page, the regional president of Castilla-La Mancha, posted on X that he was traveling to the crash site.

Manuel Galán, the mayor of the nearby town of Urda, told TVE that passengers had been injured. Civil protection authorities asked his town hall to prepare a sports pavilion to treat the victims.

The January accident killed 45 people in southern Spain when a train jumped the track and hit an oncoming train. That crash was the deadliest in Spain since 2013, when 80 people died.