Arabic version: مصرع ما لا يقل عن 68 شخصاً في حادث قطار بإسبانيا

According to BBC News, at least 68 people were killed and dozens injured when a high-speed train travelling from Madrid to Seville struck a stationary train in central Spain on Wednesday morning. Several carriages fell down an embankment after the collision, which happened just after 09:00 local time, about 140km south of Madrid.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the stationary Iryo train, carrying 147 passengers, had stopped because of a computer failure. He said a 24-hour control centre in Madrid then instructed trains to move again without speed restrictions, describing the decision as “inexplicable”. Iryo said its train was struck from behind by a Renfe service carrying 397 passengers.

Survivors described passengers being thrown through carriages, trapped among seats and breaking windows to escape. One carriage caught fire, while images showed a long piece of railway track speared through a carriage. Emergency crews sent dozens of ambulances to the scene, and a helicopter evacuated people with the most serious injuries. Spain’s Civil Guard said DNA samples from relatives would be needed to identify some victims.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the site and said Spain was grieving, calling the pain immense. He said it was unacceptable for the country to suffer two serious train crashes in one year and pledged to determine whether there had been negligence. The crash is Spain’s deadliest rail disaster in 13 years, following the 2013 Santiago de Compostela disaster, which killed 80 people.