The accident occurred at 8:53 AM on the Madrid-Sevilla line. The Renfe AVE collided from behind with a stationary Iryo on the track, carrying 544 people on board.
At least 68 people have died and 58 have been seriously injured following the collision between a Renfe AVE and a stationary Iryo on the track, near Urda, in Toledo. The information, reported by El Correo, places the incident at 8:53 AM at the 118-kilometre point of the Madrid-Sevilla line, between Mora, Orgaz, and Urda. According to the still provisional balance, there were 544 people on both trains, including a baby.
The AVE, numbered 02080, had departed from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha at 8:00 AM heading to Sevilla-Santa Justa. Of the total passengers, 397 were on the AVE and 147 on the Iryo. The impact caused several cars of the second train to derail and at least two carriages to fall down an embankment. The Guardia Civil confirms that there are trapped passengers and that four carriages were affected.
Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, explained that around 8:30 AM there was a failure of the LZB control system over a stretch of 69 kilometres, which forced the stopping of about six trains. According to his account, the control was the responsibility of the Adif operations centre in Atocha, from where at 8:36 AM the AVE was authorised to resume normal operation.
From there, a series of decisions are made: communication with the trains, and it was decided at 8:36 AM that the AVE would resume normal operation, something that, according to regulations, should not have been done. Between 8:36 and 8:53 the impact occurred,” Puente stated.
Puente described the command post's decision as “inexplicable” and added that the AVE had a target speed indication of zero and a red signal. Therefore, it should have operated under the rule of running at sight. The minister said he did not know why the Iryo did not start moving.
From Renfe, they maintain that the AVE resumed operation after receiving the appropriate authorisation, while the Iryo remained stationary “for reasons we do not know.” The company adds that their train continued as instructed. The spokesperson for the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, Esther Padilla, warned that “the death toll will surely increase.”
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, travelled to Urda to support the emergency teams. Emergency services estimate that the number of injured could be between 100 and 120, although their severity has not yet been determined. Rescue teams are working among the wreckage of the trains, in an area of Montes de Toledo that is difficult to access.
Adif immediately halted operations on one of Spain's main railway corridors. The tragedy occurs almost nine months after the accident in Adamuz (Córdoba), which resulted in 46 fatalities.
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