Toledo Rail Crash: 69 Dead as Families Search for Missing
More than 2,000 residents volunteered in the hours after the collision, which is the second fatal high-speed train accident in Spain this year.
By Andrew Bennett ·
At least 69 people died when two high-speed trains collided in central Spain, leaving dozens injured and many families searching for missing relatives more than 24 hours later. The crash occurred on Wednesday, involving a RENFE train and an Iryo train that had stopped on the tracks.
César Vicente, an actor from Seville, traveled 495 kilometers to Toledo to find his father, who was seated in 13A on the RENFE train. He spent the night at a religious center converted into a base for affected families. "I have my father, and I don’t know where he is. I hope to find him, oh my Lord," Vicente said. He described the situation as "hell" and "unbearable."
Relatives also posted urgent appeals on social media. Alejandra Marroquín wrote that her sister Adriana, wearing dark blue clothes, was in car 8 of the RENFE train. "We’re still praying, we don’t know anything," Marroquín posted Thursday morning as search teams with sniffer dogs continued their work.
The incident marks the second deadly high-speed rail disaster in Spain in 2026. In January, 46 people died when a train jumped the track and struck another in southern Spain. Until this year, the network, the world’s second-largest after China’s, had not seen a fatal crash since service began over three decades ago.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited injured passengers at Toledo University Hospital for more than an hour. The King said, "As a society, we have once again suffered a devastating blow. But we must keep moving forward, even amid this pain, without ever forgetting the wound they have left us."
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told reporters that the government aims to strengthen security so the tragedy does not repeat. "The entire government is working to respond to the victims’ families, shed light on the tragedy, and strengthen security so that this never happens again," Sánchez said.
In the town of Urda, near the crash site, residents rushed to assist. David Gómez, a construction worker, said he and colleagues cut through fences to reach the area and treated people with first-aid kits until emergency services arrived. Authorities reported 180 injured, with 110 taken to hospitals.
More than 2,000 people volunteered in the Castilla-La Mancha region following the crash. Regional president Emiliano García-Page thanked the 1,300 emergency personnel mobilized and noted an all-time record number of blood donations.
