Death toll rises to 69 in deadly train collision in Spain

The death toll from the deadly train collision in Urda, Toledo, Spain, has risen to 69 after another body was recovered from the wreckage, Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page announced Thursday.

Around 200 people were injured in the crash. Of those, 53 remain under medical care at hospitals in Castilla-La Mancha, while another 56 have been discharged, according to the report.

Overnight, Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME) and other emergency services managed to move one of the train cars that had fallen down an embankment, allowing rescue operations to continue.

Spain’s King and Queen were expected to visit injured passengers receiving treatment at Toledo University Hospital. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in the regional capital to attend an emergency coordination meeting at the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (CECOPI).

Sánchez said the government would strengthen railway safety measures to prevent another tragedy. He also pledged a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the collision and said authorities were working around the clock to support victims’ families and establish what happened.

Possible causes under investigation

Local media reports indicate investigators are examining the possibility of a combination of technical failure in the railway safety system and human error at the central control center.

Experts, the Transport Ministry and independent specialists have outlined three possible explanations for the collision between a Renfe-operated AVE train and an Iryo train on the high-speed route connecting Madrid and Andalusia. The investigation remains ongoing, and the causes have not been definitively established.

The disaster comes amid other serious railway incidents reported in Spain this year. On January 18, more than 40 people were killed in a crash in Adamuz, Córdoba, which remains under investigation. Days later, a passenger train collided with a retaining wall that had fallen onto the tracks outside Barcelona. The train driver died, and more than 30 passengers were injured.