Spanish rail crash death toll hits 68 after controllers ordered a high-speed train onward in an 'inexplicable' error
Mangled wreckage on its side after two high-speed trains collided in Toledo province, Spain, killing at least 39 people and leaving survivors scrambling clear while passengers remained trapped.Smoke rises from derailed carriages between Los Yébenes and Urda after the crash, which emergency crews feared could surpass the Adamuz disaster, where 46 people died in January.
Two high-speed trains carrying 544 passengers between Madrid and Seville collided just after 9am near Urda in Toledo province, killing at least 68 and injuring 80 others in Spain's worst rail disaster since 2013. Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente called the traffic controllers' instruction to proceed "inexplicable," with government sources pointing to human error after an automatic signalling failure forced the network to switch to manual operation. The Renfe AVE struck the stationary Iryo service at speed, derailing two carriages and hurling them down a steep embankment.
Peruvian survivor Josimar Medina, 37, described seeing a passenger with "nothing left below the chest" after being flung through his carriage.
Wednesday's crash is the SECOND this year involving Renfe and Iryo on the same route — a January collision at Adamuz killed 46 people.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the scene, warning: 'If there has been negligence, it will come to light' — just one month before a national election.
