Toledo Collision Kills Ten Passengers
Regional officials expect the death toll to rise after two high-speed trains struck on the Madrid-Seville line.
By Yasmin Nasser ·
A high-speed train struck the rear of a stationary service in central Spain on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people. The collision occurred in the province of Toledo and derailed two carriages.
Esther Padilla, the spokeswoman for the Castilla-La Mancha region, confirmed the death toll to state broadcaster TVE. She stated that the number of fatalities will surely rise. The accident involved a state-owned RENFE train and a private IRYO service. Both trains were traveling in the same direction from Madrid toward Seville.
Spain's rail operator ADIF suspended service between Madrid, Ciudad Real, and Andalusia following the crash. Padilla reported that 397 passengers were aboard the RENFE train and 147 were on the IRYO train. The cause of the collision remains unknown.
Manuel Galán, the mayor of the nearby town of Urda, said civil protection authorities requested a local sports pavilion to care for injured passengers. Regional president Emiliano García-Page posted on social media that he was traveling to the crash site.
The two rail operators were involved in a previous fatal accident in January. A train derailed in southern Spain and hit an oncoming service, killing 45 people. That incident was the deadliest in the country since a 2013 crash that claimed 80 lives.
