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URDA, SPAIN: At least 68 people died when two Spanish high-speed trains collided on Wednesday, with rescuers scouring the wreckage for more bodies after Spain\u2019s \u200bsecond deadly rail accident this year and Europe\u2019s deadliest since 2013.<\/strong><\/p>\n Spain\u2019s transport minister said Wednesday\u2019s crash south of Madrid occurred after a Renfe train was authorised to continue its journey despite there being \u200can active red signal because of a stationary train on the track ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n Oscar Puente told reporters in Madrid that the red signal was issued due to a computer communications failure, which automatically stopped traffic, and an erroneous decision had been made to restart the Renfe train, in a breach of protocol.<\/span><\/p>\n Ambulances, funeral home vans and helicopters were parked next to one of the trains on an elevated section of track, while twisted metal, broken panels and wreckage were strewn across an embankment down which at least three carriages had plunged.<\/span><\/p>\n Evacuated passengers streamed \u200balong a nearby road. Some were splattered with blood or had bandaged wounds, while others wheeled suitcases and were handed water by volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n Miguel, who was travelling with several colleagues in the rear carriage of one of the \u200btrains, described the moment of the accident and its immediate aftermath.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe heard a massive roar, a truly enormous thud that went on for 10 seconds, as if the train were \u2060about to derail. Through the right-hand window, we could see a wrecked train,\u201d he told COPE radio.<\/span><\/p>\n The head of Castilla-La Mancha\u2019s regional government said the death toll had risen to 68, while rescue workers were still going carriage by carriage \u200blooking for other crash victims.<\/span><\/p>\n The collision comes after an accident in January between high-speed trains belonging to the same operators and on the same line that killed 46 people.<\/span><\/p>\n In that crash a train derailed and smashed into \u200ban oncoming train near Adamuz, in Cordoba province, prompting a debate about the level of investment in railway maintenance in recent years.<\/span><\/p>\n A person briefed on Wednesday\u2019s disaster said a train operated by private consortium Iryo stopped near Toledo on orders from infrastructure manager Adif due to a signal fault.<\/span><\/p>\n A train operated by Renfe then struck the stationary train at high speed, causing several carriages of both trains to derail, the person said.<\/span><\/p>\n Renfe said in a statement that after being authorised to continue its journey, its train had crashed into the Iryo train that had remained \u200bstationary \u201cfor reasons we don\u2019t know\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Renfe train continued on its way as instructed, and a collision occurred. The exact sequence of events, the traffic conditions and the circumstances of the impact will have to be established by the investigation,\u201d Renfe \u200bsaid.<\/span><\/p>\n There was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment from Iryo or Adif.<\/span><\/p>\n Authorities gave no immediate figure for the number of injured but Health Minister M\u00f3nica Garc\u00eda urged people in a post on X to donate blood. Castilla-La Mancha region \u200cspokesperson Esther Padilla \u2060said 147 people had been travelling on the Iryo train and 397 on the Renfe train.<\/span><\/p>\n The accident is the deadliest in Europe since a 2013 crash in Spain\u2019s Santiago de Compostela left 80 people dead.<\/span><\/p>\n Eduarda, a passenger on the Iryo train, told Cadena SER radio she felt a strong impact that threw her forward, initially making her think the train had made an emergency stop.<\/span><\/p>\n She only realised the seriousness of the accident after seeing injured people and being told to evacuate.<\/span><\/p>\n After climbing down an embankment to safety, she saw what she described as a catastrophic scene, with part of the train hanging down the slope and a fire in one carriage.<\/span><\/p>\n Emergency responders, including a helicopter, police and ambulances, arrived within about 20 minutes, she said. \u201cI saw \u200bdead people,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n The Renfe and Iryo trains crashed just \u200bafter 9 a.m., causing two Iryo wagons to derail, \u2060a spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha region said.<\/span><\/p>\n Renfe said it had activated a special line for families of victims and expressed its condolences. Iryo said it had activated emergency protocols.<\/span><\/p>\n The causes of the January accident near Cordoba are still under investigation. A preliminary report by Spain\u2019s Civil Guard in February pointed to defects in the track, rail or weld between two sections \u200bof track as the main hypothesis for the accident, but kept seven other theories open.<\/span><\/p>\n The latest accident comes as Spain gears up for an election on \u200bNovember 29. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez \u2060was on his way to the scene of the crash, his office said. The opposition People\u2019s Party cancelled all campaign events, a spokesperson said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShocked by the serious train accident in Toledo. My affection, solidarity, and support to all the victims and their families,\u201d Sanchez said on X.<\/span><\/p>\n Accidents, including derailments and collisions, increased from 45 in 2016 to 57 in 2024 and 69 last year, according to Spain\u2019s railway safety authority.<\/span><\/p>\n Some 25 million passengers used a high-speed train in Spain in the first half of the year, a \u2060decline of roughly 14% \u200bcompared with the same period last year, according to a Reuters analysis of data from Spain\u2019s competition authority.<\/span><\/p>\n European Commission data shows Spain\u2019s maintenance investment \u200bin its roughly 4,000 km (2,485 miles) of high-speed lines has lagged large European peers, despite an unmatched drive to expand the network.<\/span><\/p>\nRESCUERS LOOKING FOR MORE VICTIMS<\/span><\/h2>\n
OPERATOR RENFE SAYS CIRCUMSTANCES BEING INVESTIGATED<\/span><\/h2>\n
PASSENGER DESCRIBES SEEING FATALITIES<\/span><\/h2>\n
ELECTION DUE NEXT MONTH<\/span><\/h2>\n