The collision involved an AVE train operated by the state railway company Renfe and an Iryo train operated by a private carrier. According to the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, both trains were traveling in the same direction from Madrid to Seville. Preliminary information indicates the Renfe train struck the rear of the Iryo train, which was stationary. The impact caused two carriages of the Iryo train to derail and tumble down an embankment.
Preliminary figures from the regional government and the Transport Ministry indicate that 397 passengers were on the Renfe train and 146 passengers, including one baby, were on the Iryo train, totaling 543 people on board. Some sources cited 397 passengers on the Renfe service and 147 on the Iryo service, resulting in a total of 544. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed the impact was of high speed but stated it was too soon to confirm a final casualty figure. “We are expecting this to be a major tragedy,” Garcia told local broadcaster TVE.
Emergency services deployed significant resources to the scene, including multiple fire crews, three medical helicopters, and two mobile intensive care units. Madrid’s mayor, Jose Luis Martínez-Almeida, announced that the capital was sending additional emergency medical teams and firefighters to assist. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was “shocked” by the accident and remained in contact with Transport Minister Oscar Puente and Castilla-La Mancha’s regional president, Emiliano Garcia-Page, who coordinated the response from an emergency control center.
Rail infrastructure operator ADIF suspended all high-speed rail traffic between Madrid and Andalusia following the incident. Private operator Iryo canceled all services departing from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha along the Southern Corridor, with no estimate provided for when service would resume. The crash occurred at approximately 8:30 a.m. local time, though some reports cited a time just after 9 a.m. Witnesses described “absolute chaos,” with ambulances and emergency vehicles constantly arriving at the scene.
The incident occurs less than a year after a similar high-speed train crash in Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba, which killed 46 people and injured 152 in January. Spain’s high-speed railway network is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world after China, having carried 25 million passengers in 2024. A specialist disaster investigation team from the Civil Guard has been sent to the site to determine the cause of the collision. Rescue and recovery operations are ongoing, with local authorities preparing facilities in nearby towns to accommodate those affected.
