What We Know About the Deadly High-Speed Train Collision Near Toledo, Spain

Two high-speed trains collided in Spain’s Toledo province on Wednesday, killing at least 68 people, according to Al Jazeera. The Independent put the toll at at least 69, and the search for survivors among the wrecked carriages was still going on Thursday.

Among the dead was 24-year-old long jumper Julieta Gallego, the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation confirmed on Thursday. A former government minister is also feared dead.

What happened in Toledo province?

The Independent reported that 544 people were travelling on the two trains, which crashed just after 9 a.m. between the towns of Mora and Orgaz. Several carriages derailed.

Footage from regional broadcaster Castilla-La Mancha Television showed a derailed train with at least one carriage left on an elevated section of track. Twisted metal, broken panels and wreckage were strewn across an embankment below the line.

How many people were killed and injured?

Reports differ on the numbers. Al Jazeera cited Emiliano Garcia-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, as saying at least 68 people were killed and about 80 were injured, 50 of them seriously and 15 critically. The Independent reported that more than 100 people were injured and gave the death toll as at least 69.

According to Al Jazeera, the most seriously injured were taken to hospitals in the region and in Madrid. Other survivors were assessed at a sports hall near the crash site, where emergency teams sorted them by the severity of their injuries before sending them home or to hospital. Local media reports described survivors with head wounds, facial swelling and bloodied clothing, many of them dazed.

Who are the known victims?

The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation said on X that the “Spanish athletics family joins in the grief” over Gallego’s death. She competed for the Madrid-based club AD Sprint and regularly took part in Spain’s club championships. Her long jump personal best was 5.90 metres, set in Antequera in 2023.

Federation president Raul Chapado told the Spanish newspaper ABC that the sport mourns a young woman whose life ahead of her was unjustly cut short.

The Independent also reported that Fátima Báñez, who served in the Spanish government between 2011 and 2018 and was minister for employment and social security, was travelling on one of the trains. Spanish reports said she was in one of the worst-affected carriages. Sources close to her told the outlet Democrata that she was among the dead, but the Independent described her as feared dead rather than confirmed.

What does this mean for the rail line and for sport?

The collision was the second deadly accident in less than a year on the line that connects Madrid with southern Andalusia, according to both the Independent and Al Jazeera. The sources do not say what caused the crash, and the cause has not been established in the reports.

The effects have reached beyond the railway. Al Jazeera reported that Spanish football postponed 24 Copa del Rey games after the crash.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Independent, Al Jazeera