Spain has begun three days of national mourning after at least 68 people were killed and dozens injured when a passenger train collided with a stationary train, making it one of the deadliest rail disasters in modern European history.
Emergency workers laboured through the night under floodlights, cutting open mangled carriages in the search for victims. Many of those killed have yet to be identified.
The crash happened on Wednesday morning when a train travelling from Madrid to Seville struck a stationary train. One carriage caught fire, and officials are still investigating what caused the collision.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the whole country was grieving, describing the loss as immense and saying lives had been shattered and families torn apart. Hundreds of rescue personnel have been sent to the site, with drones and helicopters deployed to help locate victims and clear debris.
Witnesses described scenes of panic, with passengers crying and bleeding, some trapped in their seats as smoke spread through the carriages. The interior ministry said recovery efforts were continuing.
The disaster has also intensified scrutiny of Spain’s rail safety record. Sánchez said it was unacceptable that the country had suffered two serious rail accidents this year, after a high-speed crash near Córdoba in January killed 46 people. That incident occurred on the same line as Wednesday’s collision, though much further south.
Most political parties suspended campaigning for upcoming elections after the crash. The far-right party Vox was the exception. Its leader, Santiago Abascal, said the party would not join what he called attempts to use mourning to silence criticism of Spain’s rail infrastructure.
