For the second time this year, Spain is counting the dead after a high-speed rail accident. Shortly before nine on Wednesday morning a Renfe AVE heading south from Madrid ran into the back of an Iryo train that was standing still on the Madrid–Seville line, between Los Yébenes and Urda in Toledo province. The force of the hit sent two Iryo carriages tumbling down an embankment.
Casualty figures climbed sharply as the morning went on, from an initial ten to thirty and then higher. The civil protection service of Castilla-La Mancha now speaks of at least 50 people killed and more than 179 hurt. The two trains together carried 544 travellers, 397 of them aboard the AVE, which had left the capital at 8:00. Several passengers had not yet been located, so officials stress the toll is provisional.
Investigators are focusing on signalling. Government sources say the LZB automatic train-protection system broke down earlier that morning, halting around eight trains, after which traffic was controlled manually. According to that early account, the Iryo failed to restart, yet the control room still cleared the AVE behind it to move on. Authorities have not formally confirmed the human-error theory.
A traveller sitting near the back recalled on COPE radio hearing “a massive roar” that seemed to go on for ten seconds. Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, described himself as “shocked”; King Felipe VI sent condolences to the families and thanked the rescue teams, which include the army’s emergency unit.
Rail manager Adif has suspended high-speed services linking Madrid with Andalusia. Only ten months ago, in January, the Adamuz derailment in Córdoba province claimed 46 lives; Wednesday’s disaster is another heavy blow for Europe’s biggest fast-rail network.
