Toledo High-Speed Collision Kills 10 as Trains Meet on Same Track

Ten people died on Wednesday morning when a high-speed train traveling south from Madrid collided with the rear of another train that was already stopped on the tracks near Toledo, Spain. The impact forced two carriages off the rails and halted rail service along the main corridor connecting Madrid, Ciudad Real, and Andalusia.

Esther Padilla, a spokeswoman for the Castilla La Mancha regional government, confirmed the initial death toll of 10 but warned that the number would likely increase. She stated that the two trains were moving in the same direction from Madrid to Seville when the moving vehicle struck the stationary one. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the crash.

The accident involved a train operated by the state-owned RENFE and a service from the private carrier IRYO. Padilla reported that 397 passengers were aboard the RENFE train and 147 passengers were in the IRYO train. The collision occurred in the province of Toledo, prompting civil protection authorities to prepare a nearby sports pavilion in the town of Urda to treat injured passengers.

This is the second fatal crash involving these two operators this year. In January, a derailment in southern Spain resulted in 45 deaths when a train jumped the tracks and hit an oncoming vehicle. That incident marked the deadliest rail disaster in Spain since 2013, when 80 people were killed. Emiliano García-Page, the regional president, said he was traveling to the crash site to oversee the response.