At least 46 people have died in a collision between two high-speed trains in Spain, the ABC newspaper reports. The accident occurred shortly after 9:00 local time between the towns of Los Jebenes and Urda in the province of Toledo.
The collision involved an AVE train, which was traveling from Madrid to Seville, and an Iryo train, which was traveling in the opposite direction. According to preliminary data, one train crashed into the other from behind.
„The movement on the high-speed rail line Madrid-Andalusia has been stopped after a collision in which one train crashed into the other from behind“, reported the railway operator Adif.
Two carriages fell down an embankment
Witnesses reported many injuries, and emergency medical teams were sent to the scene. According to the newspaper „Pais“ two of the carriages of the participating trains derailed and fell down an embankment.
At the moment, there is no official cause for the accident. No deadline has been announced for the restoration of traffic on the line that connects Madrid with Andalusia.
Second serious train accident in Spain this year
The incident near Urda follows a series of serious rail accidents in Spain. On January 18, a collision between two trains near Adamuz, in the province of Cordoba, killed 45 people and injured more than 150.
A few days later, a passenger train derailed near Barcelona after a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks during heavy rain. The incident killed a train driver and seriously injured four passengers.
Sources: news.bg, elpais.com