Latest News
At least 68 dead in Spain’s second major train crash this year
At least 68 people died when two Spanish high-speed trains collided on Wednesday, with rescuers scouring the wreckage for more bodies after Spain’s second deadly rail accident this year and Europe’s deadliest since 2013.
Spain’s transport minister said Wednesday’s crash south of Madrid occurred after a Renfe train was authorised to continue its journey despite there being an active red signal because of a stationary train on the track ahead.
Oscar Puente told reporters in Madrid that the red signal was issued due to a computer communications failure, which automatically stopped traffic, and an erroneous decision had been made to restart the Renfe train, in a breach of protocol.
Ambulances, funeral home vans and helicopters were parked next to one of the trains on an elevated section of track, while twisted metal, broken panels and wreckage were strewn across an embankment down which at least three carriages had plunged.
Handout / Guardia Civil / AFP
Rescuers look for more victims
Evacuated passengers streamed along a nearby road. Some were splattered with blood or had bandaged wounds, while others wheeled suitcases and were handed water by volunteers.
Miguel, who was travelling with several colleagues in the rear carriage of one of the trains, described the moment of the accident and its immediate aftermath.
“We heard a massive roar, a truly enormous thud that went on for 10 seconds, as if the train were about to derail. Through the right-hand window, we could see a wrecked train,” he told COPE radio.
The head of Castilla-La Mancha’s regional government said the death toll had risen to 68, while rescue workers were still going carriage by carriage looking for other crash victims.
Operator Renfe says circumstances being investigated
The collision comes after an accident in January between high-speed trains belonging to the same operators and on the same line that killed 46 people.
In that crash a train derailed and smashed into an oncoming train near Adamuz, in Cordoba province, prompting a debate about the level of investment in railway maintenance in recent years.
A person briefed on Wednesday’s disaster said a train operated by private consortium Iryo stopped near Toledo on orders from infrastructure manager Adif due to a signal fault.
AFP / JAVIER SORIANO
A train operated by Renfe then struck the stationary train at high speed, causing several carriages of both trains to derail, the person said.
Renfe said in a statement that after being authorised to continue its journey, its train had crashed into the Iryo train that had remained stationary “for reasons we don’t know”.
“The Renfe train continued on its way as instructed, and a collision occurred. The exact sequence of events, the traffic conditions and the circumstances of the impact will have to be established by the investigation,” Renfe said.
There was no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment from Iryo or Adif.
Passenger describes seeing fatalities
Authorities gave no immediate figure for the number of injured but Health Minister Mónica García urged people in a post on X to donate blood. Castilla-La Mancha region spokesperson Esther Padilla said 147 people had been travelling on the Iryo train and 397 on the Renfe train.
The accident is the deadliest in Europe since a 2013 crash in Spain’s Santiago de Compostela left 80 people dead.
Eduarda, a passenger on the Iryo train, told Cadena SER radio she felt a strong impact that threw her forward, initially making her think the train had made an emergency stop.
She only realised the seriousness of the accident after seeing injured people and being told to evacuate.
After climbing down an embankment to safety, she saw what she described as a catastrophic scene, with part of the train hanging down the slope and a fire in one carriage.
Emergency responders, including a helicopter, police and ambulances, arrived within about 20 minutes, she said. “I saw dead people,” she said.
The Renfe and Iryo trains crashed just after 9 am (9pm NZT), causing two Iryo wagons to derail, a spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha region said.
Renfe said it had activated a special line for families of victims and expressed its condolences. Iryo said it had activated emergency protocols.
The causes of the January accident near Cordoba are still under investigation. A preliminary report by Spain’s Civil Guard in February pointed to defects in the track, rail or weld between two sections of track as the main hypothesis for the accident, but kept seven other theories open.
Election due next month
The latest accident comes as Spain gears up for an election on 29 November. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was on his way to the scene of the crash, his office said. The opposition People’s Party cancelled all campaign events, a spokesperson said.
“Shocked by the serious train accident in Toledo. My affection, solidarity, and support to all the victims and their families,” Sanchez said on X.
Accidents, including derailments and collisions, increased from 45 in 2016 to 57 in 2024 and 69 last year, according to Spain’s railway safety authority.
Some 25 million passengers used a high-speed train in Spain in the first half of the year, a decline of roughly 14 percent compared with the same period last year, according to a Reuters analysis of data from Spain’s competition authority.
European Commission data shows Spain’s maintenance investment in its roughly 4000 km (2485 miles) of high-speed lines has lagged large European peers, despite an unmatched drive to expand the network.
Spain spent an average of about €1.5 billion a year from 2018 to 2022 on its high-speed network, more than any other country. The vast majority went to new infrastructure with only some 16 percent earmarked for maintenance, renewal and upgrades.
– Reuters
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
rnz
Police say person who fired gun at officers still at large
New Zealand sides named for RLWC finals
Parliamentary Service working on extra chairs and offices for increased number of MPs
-
Latest News2 months ago‘Chilling’: Business groups speak out against National’s supermarket break-up plan
-
NZ News2 months agoTom Phillips report: The missed opportunities to find the children
-
Latest News2 months agoCars bearing Chinese police markings stir unease in Auckland
-
Politics2 months agoNational vows to try to split Pak’nSave and New World
-
Fiji News2 months agoPlans to have new Constitution by Dec 24th 2026
-
Politics2 months agoMBIE confirms botched biometric projects costs blown out to $50.7 million
-
NZ News2 months agoCop who stole $68,000 can now be named as champion Muay Thai fighter Haimona Tamati-Te Paki
-
Latest News2 months agoFive Karangahape Road venues lose their liquor licences after police intervention