Spain train crash: death toll rises to 68 as Spain mourns and investigators focus on a control-center order

The death toll from Wednesday’s high-speed train collision near Urda, in Spain’s Toledo province, has risen to at least 68, and officials warn it could climb further as crews work through the most badly damaged carriages. Spain began three days of official mourning on Thursday, The Guardian reported.

A Renfe AVE train slammed into the rear of a stopped Iryo train on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line on Wednesday morning, knocking several carriages off the track. Officials said 107 people needed hospital treatment, including 15 in serious condition, according to The Guardian.

What is the latest death toll in the Spain train crash?

At least 68 people have died. Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page gave a breakdown of 24 victims aboard the Renfe AVE and 44 aboard the Iryo train, El Español reported. He cautioned that more victims were likely because crews had not yet reached the bottom of some carriages.

The Civil Guard and Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit (UME) worked through the night with thermal-imaging drones, heavy cranes and specialized dogs, El Español reported, focusing on the rear Iryo cars that derailed and fell down an embankment. About 200 UME troops are taking part.

The first victim named publicly was José Manuel Chacón, a 31-year-old Civil Guard officer, The Guardian reported. Spanish media said the missing include a former People’s Party minister and several foreign visitors.

What caused the train crash in Spain?

The investigation is ongoing, and the official cause has not been determined. But early reporting points to a chain of events:

1. A safety-system failure. A computer fault knocked out the LZB train-protection system on a stretch of the line, forcing trains onto a backup signaling mode at low speed and stopping several of them, according to El Español and Europa Press.
2. One train didn’t restart. When LZB came back, the other trains were told to resume, but the Iryo stayed stopped because its driver could not reset the system, El Español reported.
3. The AVE was cleared to proceed. The AVE driver, facing a red signal, asked the Adif control center at Madrid’s Atocha station for permission to pass it. According to first analyses reported by El Español, an operator gave the go-ahead by mistake while the Iryo was still on the track. Renfe said its train resumed “once it received the corresponding authorization,” while the Iryo “remained stopped for reasons we don’t know” (translated).

Europa Press reported that Adif’s own rules, updated in February 2025, allow the control center to authorize a restart after such a failure only when the next block of track is clear, and then only at “sight speed.” Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the AVE was authorized at normal speed and reached around 200 kilometers per hour (about 124 mph), Europa Press reported.

The Civil Guard has questioned the operator Puente pointed to and the rest of the control-center shift, and a court in Orgaz is overseeing the judicial investigation, El Español said. Spain’s rail accident investigation commission, CIAF, is also involved.

How are families being helped?

The Civil Guard set up offices in Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Seville where close relatives can report missing people and give DNA samples, and identification is being centralized at Toledo’s forensic institute with 25 forensic doctors, El Español reported. A school in Urda is serving as an information point, with Red Cross teams offering support, The Guardian said.

What did the Spanish royal family say?

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia said they were “moved and concerned” and sent condolences to families and support to emergency crews, Hello! reported. The king cut short a visit to a military base in Valencia province to return to Madrid and canceled his engagements for Wednesday and Thursday.

Is this Spain’s second train crash this year?

Yes. In January, 46 people were killed when Renfe and Iryo trains collided on the same line near Adamuz in Andalusia, The Guardian reported. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it “unacceptable” for Spain to suffer two high-speed accidents in one year and promised the “utmost severity” if negligence or system failures are found. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for an independent review of the entire rail network.

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Earlier coverage: Spain train crash: at least 64 dead after high-speed AVE slams into stopped Iryo train near Urda, Toledo (Oct 28)