Emergency services work at the crash site after two high-speed trains collided, in Urda, Spain October 28, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a video. (FORTA/Handout via REUTERS)
At least 50 dead after high-speed trains collide in Spain
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
- Video footage showed a derailed carriage stranded on elevated tracks, with heavy wreckage scattered along the embankment
- The incident marks the second fatal disaster on the route in under a year, following January's collision near Adamuz that killed 46
At least 50 people were killed on Wednesday when two high-speed trains collided in Spain, regional authorities confirmed, marking the second fatal rail disaster along the corridor linking Madrid to the southern region of Andalusia in under a year.
The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha announced that the confirmed death toll had risen to 30 from an initial count of 10, following earlier cautions that casualties were expected to climb.
Broadcast footage aired by regional network Castilla-La Mancha Television captured the aftermath of the collision, showing a derailed train with at least one carriage perched precariously on an elevated section of track. Twisted metal debris, shattered structural panels, and train wreckage lay scattered across an embankment beneath the railway line.
Survivors recounted harrowing scenes inside the carriages as the impact occurred. Miguel, a passenger traveling with colleagues in the rear car of one of the trains, recounted the event to Spanish radio station COPE.
"We heard a massive roar, a truly enormous thud that went on for 10 seconds, as if the train were about to derail. Through the right-hand window, we could see a wrecked train – I imagine it must have been the other one," he said.
Wednesday’s fatal collision comes just nine months after another deadly disaster involving high-speed trains run by the same operators along the identical route. In that January incident, which claimed 46 lives, a train derailed before colliding with an oncoming train near Adamuz, located in the province of Cordoba.
The earlier disaster had already ignited national debate and intensified scrutiny over the adequacy of government and operator investment in railway maintenance across Spain's high-speed rail network in recent years.
