Two High-Speed Trains Collide in Toledo, Killing 10

At least ten people died Wednesday morning when a high-speed train crashed into the rear of a stationary train in central Spain. The impact derailed two carriages in the province of Toledo, according to authorities.

Esther Padilla, a spokeswoman for the Castilla La Mancha region, confirmed the death toll to state broadcaster TVE. She noted that the figure of ten is currently confirmed but stated that the number will surely rise. The collision involved a state-owned RENFE train and a private IRYO train, both traveling from Madrid toward Seville. The RENFE service carried 397 passengers, while the IRYO train had 147 aboard.

ADIF, the operator of Spain's rail system, suspended service between Madrid, Ciudad Real, and Andalusia following the incident. Padilla said the cause of the crash remains unknown. She explained that one train struck the tail of the other while it was stopped, sending two cars off the track.

Manuel Galán, the mayor of the nearby town of Urda, told TVE that passengers were injured. Civil protection authorities requested his town hall prepare a local sports pavilion to care for the affected travelers. Regional President Emiliano García-Page posted on X that he was traveling to the crash site to assess the situation.

This incident follows a previous deadly crash in January involving trains from the same two companies. In that earlier accident, 45 people died in southern Spain when a train left the tracks and hit an oncoming service. That January event was the deadliest rail disaster in Spain since 2013, a year that saw 80 fatalities in a separate crash. The January incident had already shaken confidence in the country's high-speed rail network.