High-speed train crash kills at least 68 people in Spain

What the report says

A high-speed rail crash in central Spain has killed at least 68 people and injured dozens more, according to BBC World News. The collision happened on Wednesday morning around 140km south of Madrid, when a train traveling from Madrid to Seville struck another train that had stopped on the tracks. The force of impact sent several carriages off an embankment and left passengers trapped in wreckage, with some windows smashed open so people could escape.

Spain’s transport minister said the stopped train, operated by private company Iryo, was halted after a computer failure, and that a control centre later made what he described as an inexplicable decision to let the trains move again without speed limits. Iryo said its train was hit from behind by a Renfe train carrying 397 passengers. The BBC reported that one carriage caught fire, while emergency crews used ambulances and a helicopter to evacuate the most seriously injured.

The crash is among the deadliest rail disasters in modern European history and Spain’s worst train tragedy in 13 years. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the site and said the country was grieving, while opposition figures and unions called for accountability and clarity over possible infrastructure or safety failures. Identifying some victims may require DNA samples, authorities said. More broadly, the disaster has renewed scrutiny of Spain’s high-speed rail safety after another fatal crash earlier this year on the same rail line.