Toledo train crash kills 68 – minister calls go-ahead order 'inexplicable'
An AVE high-speed train ploughed into a stationary Iryo train near Urda. Transport Minister Puente blames a faulty order from Adif's control centre. The death toll may rise.
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At least 68 people were killed on Wednesday morning in Spain's deadliest high-speed rail accident since 2013. Near Urda in Toledo province, a Renfe AVE train carrying 397 passengers on the Madrid–Seville line slammed into a stationary train run by Iryo with 147 people on board. Two carriages fell down an embankment. ABC News reported at least 15 seriously injured and more than 50 others hospitalised with lesser injuries. Authorities expect the toll to rise.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente called the instruction from rail operator Adif's control centre at Madrid Atocha "inexplicable". Around 8:30 a.m., the LZB signalling system failed on a 63-kilometre stretch. At 8:36 a.m., the AVE was told to proceed despite the train stopped ahead – supposedly at no more than 40 km/h. By Puente's estimate, it instead covered about 25 kilometres at more than 200 km/h. The minister ruled out resigning.
The Civil Guard is investigating, and the court in Orgaz handling the case has been reinforced. Regional president Emiliano García-Page said: "All of Spain is mourning." Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was shocked. High-speed services between Madrid and Andalusia were suspended. In January, at least 45 people died in a train crash near Adamuz in Córdoba province.