Two High-Speed Trains Collide In Spain, Killing 39

At least 39 people died after two high-speed trains collided in central Spain on Wednesday, local authorities said. The crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. local time on the stretch of track between Los Yébenes and Urda, in Toledo province. Emergency crews reached the scene, along with mobile intensive care units and extra medical teams. Witnesses told the Spanish newspaper El País that people were injured, and that two carriages left the rails and rolled down an embankment. Authorities described the incident as a rear-end collision. Train service on that line has been suspended. One of the trains had been traveling from Madrid to Seville. Officials have not said what caused the crash.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez posted a statement on X saying he was "shocked by the serious train accident in Toledo." He wrote that he has stayed in contact with transport minister Óscar Puente and Castilla-La Mancha president García Page, and that emergency services were at the scene working with all the administrations involved. He sent his support to the victims and their families.

This marks the second deadly rail incident in Spain this year. On Jan. 18, at least 45 people died and 170 were injured when two trains derailed near Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba. One of those trains was an Iryo service from Málaga to Madrid carrying about 300 passengers. After it derailed, the train crossed to the opposite track and struck an oncoming service from Madrid to Huelva, which held about 200 passengers. A probe into that crash found a fracture in the rail appeared to have developed before the collision.

Investigators have not established the cause of Wednesday's crash. Emergency crews continue to work the scene, and further details are expected as that work proceeds.