Train collision in Toledo province kills 64, injures 108
A high-speed AVE rammed an Iryo train in Urda. The toll may rise, since bodies are still being recovered and the cause is unknown.
A Renfe AVE high-speed train rammed into the back of a stopped Iryo train near Urda station, in Spain's Toledo province. The Castilla-La Mancha regional government put the toll at 64 dead, 40 of them on the Iryo and 24 on the AVE, with 108 injured.
The crash came around 8:54 a.m. local time on Wednesday (1:54 a.m. in Mexico City) on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. The AVE had left Madrid-Atocha at 8:00 a.m. bound for Seville. Four cars derailed.
Regional president Emiliano García-Page warned from the first count that the number would climb: "We take it for granted there will be more." Bodies remain to be recovered. Esther Padilla, the regional government's spokeswoman, said all the injured had been pulled from the cars. Of them, 58 are still in hospitals and 50 were treated in pavilions in Urda and Consuegra.
There were 544 people on the two trains: 397 on the AVE and, on the Iryo, 146 passengers and an infant. Iryo says it does not know why its train was hit from behind, and authorities have not established a cause.
The regional government activated its territorial emergency plan at 9:15 a.m., raised it later to its second level and called in the Military Emergencies Unit. Urda's sports center is serving as a shelter.
It is the second deadly high-speed rail accident in Spain this year. On Jan. 18 in Adamuz, in Córdoba province, an Iryo train that had left the track collided with an Alvia, and the first count was more than 39 dead. Wednesday's crash surpasses that figure and comes close to the 2013 Santiago de Compostela disaster, the worst in Spain in recent decades.
High-speed service between Madrid and Andalusia is suspended, which affects anyone traveling to Spain in the coming days.
For relatives, the regional government gave these contacts and help points:
- Emergency line: 900 122 112.
- In-person help: Urda's Santo Cristo school and the Madrid-Atocha, Seville-Santa Justa and Córdoba stations.
