Young athlete and former minister among victims of Spain train crash

What the report says

Spain is in mourning after a deadly train crash near Urda in central Spain killed 69 people and injured more than 100 others, according to BBC World News. The accident happened on Wednesday morning when a high-speed Renfe train and a stationary Iryo train collided on the same track, causing carriages to derail and prompting fears that the death toll could still rise.

Among those reported dead were Julieta Gallego, a 24-year-old long-jump athlete who competed for the Madrid club AD Sprint, and Fátima Báñez, Spain’s former employment minister and the first woman to hold that post. The BBC also reported the deaths of Civil Guard officer José Manuel Chacón and finance and tax lawyer Antonio Montero Domínguez. Tributes from sports, business and political figures highlighted the personal loss behind the disaster.

Recovery efforts continued as bodies were taken to the forensic institute in Toledo, where families were providing DNA samples to help identify victims. The crash is the second rail disaster in Spain this year and the worst in the country since 2013, adding to public grief and anger as relatives searched hospitals for missing loved ones. The BBC said the tragedy has deepened concern about rail safety and the scale of the human toll.