Spain train collision near Urda kills 68; Indian embassy in Madrid opens helpline for Indian nationals

At least 68 people were killed when a high-speed train ran into the back of another on the Madrid–Seville line near Urda, in Spain’s Toledo province, shortly before 9 am local time on Wednesday, 28 October. Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page confirmed the figure in the afternoon, and the regional government was still giving it late in the evening, while warning that it could rise.

Both trains were heading south from Madrid towards Seville. A Renfe AVE service struck an Iryo train that had come to a halt on the track, and carriages of the Iryo train came off the rails and fell down an embankment. The two trains were carrying more than 540 passengers between them. García-Page said 24 of the dead were found on the Renfe train and the rest on the Iryo. Dozens of people were injured, at least 15 of them seriously, and were taken to hospitals across the region.

Minister questions control-centre order

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said that at around 8.30 am a communications fault knocked out the LZB train-control system on a stretch of the line, halting about six trains. Control passed to the centre at Madrid’s Atocha station, which allowed the trains to resume at normal speed. Puente called that decision “inexplicable”. The Civil Guard has questioned a traffic controller, and the cause is under investigation.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Urda and declared three days of national mourning from Thursday, 29 October, to Saturday, 31 October. He promised to establish what caused the crash and said there would be a firm response if negligence or system failures were found.

The crash came nine months after a collision near Adamuz in Córdoba province on 18 January, which involved trains of the same two operators and killed 46 people. García-Page said the two accidents did not appear to be linked, adding that it was for the rail accident investigators to determine the causes.

Helpline for Indian nationals

The Embassy of India in Madrid asked Indian nationals who were on the two trains, or their relatives, to contact it for assistance. It posted an emergency helpline and the consular email address, cons.madrid@mea.gov.in, on its official X account. No Indian casualty has been officially reported.