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Spain train crash: 68 dead, minister calls continuing ‘inexplicable’

An AVE train ran into a stationary Iryo train near Urda after the safety system failed. Spain is observing three days of national mourning.

There is news on this story (Wednesday, 28 October 2026, 20:23): Spanish train drivers’ union maintains strike after rail accident

Follow-up to: High-speed trains collide in Spain, line suspended Wednesday, 28 October 2026, 10:26

At least 68 people have died in the collision between two high-speed trains in the Spanish province of Toledo, regional president Emiliano García-Page says. According to Spain’s Transport Ministry, train controllers allowed trains to resume running while the safety system was out of service.

According to García-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, the official death toll stands at 68. On Wednesday afternoon, he also reported 53 people with moderately serious injuries and 15 with serious injuries. García-Page warned that more bodies could still be found in the wreckage. Further searches of the carriages require judicial authorisation, Spanish broadcaster Telecinco reports.

According to the Transport Ministry, cited by Spanish newspaper Público, the LZB safety system failed at 8.32am. As a result, six trains came to a standstill along a 90-kilometre stretch. Eight minutes later, they were given permission to continue. According to the ministry, this was against the rules, which required drivers to proceed on sight at no more than 40 kilometres per hour.

At 8.53am, an AVE train operated by state-owned Renfe ran into a train operated by private company Iryo at about 200 kilometres per hour, according to the ministry. Two carriages of the Iryo train left the tracks.

Transport minister Óscar Puente called the decision by the train controllers ‘inexplicable’. The Guardia Civil and Spain’s railway accident investigation commission (CIAF) questioned the employee at the control centre of rail infrastructure manager Adif. Asked about his resignation, Puente said according to Público that he was currently working on ‘clarifying what happened’.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the government would go ‘to the end’ to establish the cause. ‘If there has been negligence, it will become known.’ He said it was unacceptable for a country such as Spain to suffer two accidents on a high-speed line in a single year. In January, 46 people died near Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba, when an Iryo train derailed.

Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP) is demanding an independent review of the rail network and investigations by both the government and the courts. The Andalusian party Adelante Andalucía is calling for Puente’s resignation.

The Spanish government has declared three days of national mourning; Madrid and Andalusia are among the regions also observing days of mourning. The Spanish football federation has cancelled Wednesday’s 24 cup matches. The Guardia Civil is asking close relatives of missing passengers to come forward as soon as possible so that their DNA can be compared.

Rail services between Madrid and Andalusia remain suspended. Operator Ouigo will not run on the route at least until Monday 2 November, and Renfe staff are on strike on Thursday: the drivers’ union Semaf is maintaining the strike. Anyone planning to travel by train between Madrid and Seville, Córdoba or Málaga in the coming days should expect cancellations.

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