Spain reels from second high-speed rail disaster this year as crash kills 10

MADRID, Oct 28 — A collision between two high-speed trains south of Madrid killed 10 people today and the toll could rise, regional authorities said in Spain’s second such disaster this year.

Images shared by local media showed the wreckage of two trains strewn on the tracks and an embankment, with emergency services rushing to the scene.

The accident in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha comes one month before Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who faced heavy criticism for the first disaster, seeks to overturn unfavourable polls in an early general election.

“The information we are receiving is not good at all. There are at least 10 dead and it is possible that the number will increase,” Esther Padilla, spokeswoman for the government of Castilla-La Mancha, told local media CMM.

A spokesperson for the Spanish emergency services told AFP the trains collided just before 9am (0800 GMT/4pm Malaysian time) in the municipality of Urda, around 130 kilometres south of Madrid.

“All resources are currently being deployed,” the emergency services spokesperson said, including “several fire crews, three helicopters, and two mobile intensive care units”.

Rail infrastructure company ADIF confirmed a collision had taken place, adding in a social media post that the high-speed rail line from Madrid to the south had been suspended.

Spanish rail company Iryo, which was also involved in a deadly collision earlier this year, confirmed in a statement that one of its trains was affected by the accident.

‘Shocked’ 

Sanchez, who is seeking to extend his eight-year premiership in the November 29 vote, said on X that he was “shocked” by the accident and sent “my love, solidarity and support to all the victims and their families”.

He cancelled his participation in a summit on obesity in Madrid after the news broke, while his Socialist party suspended all its campaign activities.

Spain’s high-speed rail network has received huge investment in recent years, growing to become the world’s second-largest after China and a source of national pride.

But today’s accident comes after another collision between two high-speed trains outside the southern village of Adamuz in January left 46 dead, which raised major questions about security on the country’s railways.

Both accidents happened on the line linking Madrid to the southern city of Seville. One of the country’s busiest routes, it was Spain’s first high-speed line when it opened in 1992 to coincide with the Seville universal exposition. — AFP