At least 64 people have died and dozens more have been injured following a collision between two trains south of Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, according to an updated toll from the authorities, as reported by Spanish public television broadcaster TVE.
Preliminary information indicates that the two trains collided, causing two carriages to tumble down an embankment. An earlier report from regional authorities had cited 31 deaths and 80 injuries.
According to a spokesperson for the Spanish emergency services, as quoted by AFP, the collision occurred at 8:54 a.m. (7:54 a.m. GMT) between “two trains – one operated by the private company Iryo and the other by the national rail operator, Renfe” – near the Urda station in the Castile-La Mancha region.
In the wake of this tragedy, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has canceled all his scheduled engagements for the day, while the Socialist Party (PSOE), which he leads, has announced the suspension of its campaign activities until Thursday. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the centre-right People’s Party (PP), stated on X that he was “deeply concerned” by this latest train accident.
On the social media platform X, Pedro Sánchez expressed that he was “appalled by this serious accident,” while King Felipe VI described the event as a “terrible tragedy.”
The European Union has offered “full assistance” to the Spanish authorities. “We stand ready to provide all the help we can to the Spanish authorities,” said European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho.
She added that it was “too early – far too early – to draw any conclusions” regarding the disaster. The Spanish Football Federation announced on Wednesday the postponement of 24 first-round matches of the Copa del Rey “as a sign of respect and solidarity” for the victims of the train accident.
“As a sign of respect and solidarity with all the victims of the tragic train accident that occurred on Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo, the RFEF has ordered the suspension of the 24
first-round Copa del Rey matches originally scheduled for this afternoon and evening,” the governing body stated in a press release.
This latest disaster comes amid ongoing questions regarding railway safety in Spain. The country possesses the second-largest high-speed rail network in the world, trailing only China, with approximately 4,000 kilometres of dedicated track.
On January 18, a collision in Adamuz – involving an Iryo train that had derailed and a Renfe train – resulted in numerous casualties and reignited the debate over infrastructure maintenance. At that time, the government announced an investment of 1.8 billion euros to bolster the upkeep of the network. The deadliest prior incident was the 2013 derailment in Santiago de Compostela, which claimed the lives of 80 people.
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