Spain has begun three days of national mourning after at least 68 people were killed and dozens injured in a train collision described as one of Europe’s worst rail disasters in modern history.
Emergency crews worked through the night under powerful floodlights, cutting open damaged carriages in search of victims. Many of those killed have yet to be identified.
The disaster occurred on Wednesday morning when a train travelling from Madrid to Seville crashed into a stationary train, sending several carriages down an embankment.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the entire country was grieving following the collision. “The whole of Spain is grieving, adding that “lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, the pain is immense.”
Spain’s interior ministry said hundreds of emergency personnel had been deployed to the crash site, with drones and helicopters assisting efforts to locate victims and clear the wreckage.
Investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding the collision, including decisions taken by rail controllers before the crash.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the stationary train, operated by private railway company Iryo, was carrying 147 passengers when it stopped on the tracks because of a computer failure.
According to Puente, such failures normally require a 24-hour control centre in Madrid to take over operations.
He described the centre’s subsequent decision to instruct the trains to resume movement without speed restrictions as “inexplicable”.
Audio recordings between controllers in Madrid and the train drivers appear to indicate that one high-speed train received permission to move despite another train having stalled further along the tracks.
Iryo said its train was struck from behind by another service operated by Spain’s state-owned railway company, Renfe, which was carrying 397 passengers.
Witnesses described passengers crying and bleeding, others trapped in their seats and smoke spreading through the carriages. One carriage caught fire.
Sánchez described the latest disaster as unacceptable, pointing to another high-speed rail crash near Córdoba in January that killed 46 people.
That accident occurred on the same railway line, although much further south.
Wednesday’s collision is Spain’s deadliest rail disaster since 2013, when 80 people died in a train crash on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain.
Political Campaigns Suspended As Rail Workers Prepare For Strike
Most political parties suspended campaigning for upcoming elections following Wednesday’s disaster.
Its leader, Santiago Abascal, said the party would not participate in what he described as attempts to use mourning to silence criticism of Spain’s railway infrastructure.
Police also used tear gas to disperse crowds after protesters threw bottles and flares. Authorities reported no injuries or arrests.
Rail drivers are expected to proceed with a planned strike on Thursday.
The Spanish Union of Railway Drivers (Semaf) said the industrial action would take place “in defence of railway safety.
Opposition People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo also questioned the state of the country’s transport infrastructure. “Spain has the right to know what is happening with its infrastructure.”
Families Await News As Authorities Begin Identifying Victims
Late on Wednesday, relatives of passengers aboard both trains were still seeking information about their loved ones.
The Spanish Civil Guard established offices in Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Córdoba to investigate missing-person reports and assist families.
“The top priority is the identification of the missing persons and the taking of DNA samples to be able to locate their relatives,” the Civil Guard said in a post on X.
In Toledo, near the crash site, residents observed a minute’s silence during a vigil for those killed.
European Union flags were also lowered to half-mast in Brussels.
The European Commission described the gesture as a “sign of European solidarity” with Spain during its three-day mourning period.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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