Madrid: Spain's state-owned news agency and other local media say at least 46 people have died in a crash between two trains in central Spain. The death toll rose to 46 from 10 this morning while the rescue operations are still ongoing.
The Castilla-La Mancha 112 emergency service confirmed that firefighters from Alcázar de San Juan and Orgaz, Civil Protection teams from nearby municipalities, and three medical helicopters have been mobilised for rescue operations. Authorities are searching for survivors and providing medical assistance to the injured.
Spain's rail system operator ADIF said the crash occurred Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo. Rail service is suspended between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia.
TVE is reporting that the accident was between two high-speed trains heading in the same direction and that one ran into the tail of the other, knocking two of its cars off the track.
The mayor of the nearby town of Urda, Manuel Galán, told Spanish state broadcaster TVE that passengers had been injured and that civil protection authorities had asked his town hall to prepare a sports pavilion to attend to passengers.
The mayor of another nearby village, Jesús Pérez of Los Yébenes, told TVE that it appeared that the accident was "serious.”
The regional president of Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, wrote on X that he is on his way to the crash site.
In January, 45 people died in southern Spain when a train jumped the track and hit an oncoming train. The crash was the deadliest in Spain since a 2013 crash that killed 80 people. The January incident shook the confidence the European country has in its extensive high-speed rail network.
