High-speed train collision in Spain: 68 dead, more than 100 injured

A high-speed train collision in Madrid, Spain, killed at least 68 people and injured more than 100 people.

The incident occurred on Oct. 28 just before 9am local time, AFP and Reuters reported.

In a video released by the Spanish Civil Guard, derailed carriages were seen laying on their sides, with debris strewn across the incident site.

‼️Accidente tren

🚨 La Guardia Civil ha desplegado en la zona personal de Seguridad Ciudadana de la provincia de Toledo, OMAC (Oficinas Móviles de Atención a la Ciudadanía) así como agentes del SEPRONA y de la Jefatura de Tráfico.

✔️ También se desplazan a la zona en este momento unidades de Seguridad Ciudadana de Ciudad Real y Albacete, de los Grupos de Reserva y Seguridad (GRS), del Servicio Aéreo, de drones, grupo de Caballería y el Equipo de Grandes Catástrofes del Servicio de Criminalística, del Servicio Cinológico y de Policía Judicial.

— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) October 28, 2026

Casualties

According to local authorities, an Iryo express train and a Renfe high-speed train were involved in the collision.

The Iryo train had 147 passengers, including a baby on board, while the Renfe train carried 497 passengers at the time of the incident.

One passenger, Rafael Barcelo, claimed he was drinking coffee when they “felt ⁠a very strong impact and we were sent flying”.

The passengers, who were seen splattered with blood or bandaged, were evacuated from the incident site after the collision.

Among the injured, 58 of them had been conveyed to the hospital, while 15 of them are reportedly in critical condition.

Computer communications failure

Óscar Puente, Spain’s transport minister, said the Renfe service train was authorised to restart its journey, despite an active red signal as a train ahead was stationary.

Traffic should have automatically stopped.

However, an “erroneous” decision was made to allow the train to proceed.

This could have been due to a computer communications failure.

"The decision to resume traffic, while that system had not been restored, belongs to the control centre," Puente said.

"In circumstances that, from our point of view, are inexplicable,” he added.

According to Puente, the Renfe train travelled about 25km before colliding with the stationary train at a speed that could have reached "up to 200km per hour”.

Suspension

In a press release on Oct. 28, Renfe confirmed the incident and activated assistance for those affected.

The railway operator also said it had suspended the main high-speed line from Madrid to southern Spain.

Investigations are ongoing.

Deadliest

This incident is the deadliest train collision in Spain since 2013.

It is also the second fatal high-speed train collision on the same line in 2026, following a previous high-speed train crash in January 2026 that killed 46 people.