At least 68 dead in high-speed train crash in Spain - USA Today
At least 68 people died and dozens were injured after a computer communications failure caused two high-speed trains to collide in Spain on the morning of Oct. 28, officials said.
The rear-end crash happened at about 9:15 a.m. local time in the Toledo province, on a line connecting the country's capital Madrid and the southern city of Seville.
During a news conference in Madrid, Spain's transportation minister Óscar Puente told reporters the wreck occurred after a Renfe high-speed train was authorized to continue its journey "despite an active red signal because of a stationary train on the tracks ahead, breaking protocol," Reuters reported.
Puente said the red signal was issued due to a computer communications failure which automatically stopped traffic and "an erroneous decision" was made to restart the train.
Footage from regional Castilla-La Mancha Television showed a derailed train with at least one carriage remaining on an elevated section of track while twisted metal, broken panels and wreckage could be seen strewn across an embankment beneath the line.
"Shocked by the serious train accident in Toledo," the country's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on X. "Emergency services are working on the ground to assist those affected and ensure their safety, in coordination with all the involved administrations. My affection, solidarity, and support to all the victims and their families."
Miguel, a passenger travelling with several colleagues in the rear car of one of the trains, described to COPE radio the moment of the accident.
"We heard a massive roar, a truly enormous thud that went on for 10 seconds, as if the train were about to derail. Through the right-hand window, we could see a wrecked train – I imagine it must have been the other one," he said.
"In Urda, we continue working in coordinated fashion with the rest of the administrations on what is currently the most important priority: attending to the affected individuals and their families," Castilla-La Mancha President Emiliano García-Page wrote on X. "These are very tough times, and I want to express my gratitude for the work being carried out by the security and health services, as well as the assistance being provided by neighboring autonomous communities."
The collision comes on the heels of another deadly crash between high-speed trains belonging to the same operators on the same line, regional authorities said. Forty-six people died in the January crash, which took place after a train derailed and smashed into an oncoming train near Adamuz, in Cordoba province.
The Spanish Football Federation has postponed all 24 Copa del Rey matches scheduled for Oct. 28 due to the train crash.
"The RFEF will announce the revised tournament schedule and the final times for the postponed matches in the coming days," the federation said in a statement. "The great Spanish football family remains united in grief at the tragedy, offering its support to the authorities to help the victims of this devastating accident."
