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Two high-speed passenger trains collided and caused a derailment on Wednesday morning near Toledo, Spain, killing at least 30 people, according to a spokesperson for the regional government.
The fatal accident, in which one train rear-ended another and sent two carriages down an embankment, comes after another deadly crash involving the same carriers on a southern line in January that killed 46 people, stunned Spain and created deep doubts about the security of the country’s once-vaunted rail system.
At least 30 people were killed in the Wednesday crash, according to a spokesperson for Castilla-La Mancha, the region where the collision took place, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the death toll.
In Spanish news reports, passengers who were in the crash described an awful impact that tossed people from the dining car, broke limbs and piled passengers atop one another. People crawled out of windows and lay in a nearby field, where local workers, who had heard the crash, rushed to help them with first aid kits and saw the first bodies.
“The incident occurred between Mora and Orgaz and Urda,” said the Adif, Spain’s rail authority. It added that the trains involved were a “Renfe train and another from the Iryo company, both covering the Madrid-Sevilla route.”
Renfe, the national rail provider, reported that high-speed service from Madrid, the nation’s capital, to the southern region of Andalusia was suspended. Local news outlets reported that there were 397 passengers aboard the Renfe train and about 150 aboard the Iryo train.
Isaac Barrientos, a spokesman for the government’s transportation ministry, said initial reports indicated that two carriages of the Iryo train had derailed, and that all traffic on the Madrid-Andalusia route had been suspended until further notice. “We ask passengers holding tickets for travel on this high-speed line today not to go to the stations,” he said.
With early national elections set for the end of November, the crash had the potential to become an issue in an already bitter campaign about the competence of the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
“Shocked by the serious train accident in Toledo,” Mr. Sánchez, whose office canceled all scheduled meetings, wrote on social media. “Emergency services are working on the ground to assist those affected and ensure their safety, in coordination with all the involved administrations. My affection, solidarity and support to all the victims and their families.”
The conservative opposition leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, quickly voiced his own concern as well.
“I am very concerned about the information we are receiving regarding another train accident,” he wrote on social media. “The priority now is to assist the victims and support their families. My full support goes to the emergency teams working on the ground.”
His Popular Party canceled all its campaign events around the country.
José Bautista contributed reporting from Madrid.
The first eyewitness reports from the crash are beginning to trickle in on Spanish media. Passengers are describing an awful impact that tossed people from the dining car, broke limbs and piled passengers atop one another. Passengers crawled out of windows and lay in in a nearby field, where local workers, who heard the crash, rushed to help them with first aid kits and saw the first bodies.
The crash comes months after a deadly collision in January in southern Spain that involved the same carriers. That accident, in which two high-speed trains collided, killing 46 people, was the country’s worst railway disaster since 2013.
An official report on what caused the January crash is not yet available, but preliminary investigations pointed to a broken rail as the likely cause.
Spain’s interior ministry said in a statement that it was deploying a military emergency unit and Civil Guard officers to the scene of the crash in the province of Toledo. Investigators from Spain’s Major Disaster Unit are also en route.