The key facts

  • A high-speed Renfe train rammed into the rear of a stationary Iryo train in the region of Castilla-La Mancha
  • Cranes are removing the mangled carriages near Urda; rescuers worked through the night
  • A temporary morgue has been opened at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Toledo to identify the victims

Debris clearance and victim identification proceed in parallel

An emergency rescue operation is continuing at the site of a train collision in the Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha. Personnel of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) worked among derailed carriages and wreckage, while heavy cranes lifted parts of the destroyed trains off the tracks. Photographs published on Thursday show rescuers inspecting the damaged trains and coordinating their work at the disaster site, Euronews reports.

Course of the disaster

The collision occurred when a high-speed train of the state-owned company Renfe rammed into the rear of a train belonging to the private operator Iryo that was standing on the tracks. The carriages derailed and sustained serious damage; rescue services continued working the day after the accident, including overnight.

Temporary morgue in Toledo

In parallel, the authorities set up a temporary morgue in the building of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Toledo to identify the victims. Military vehicles and police patrols were stationed outside the facility, and specialists began forensic identification procedures. Thus, on Thursday two operations were under way simultaneously: rescue teams were clearing the wreckage near the town of Urda, while forensic experts were establishing the identities of the dead.

Second major disaster of the year

According to Euronews, this is already the second major fatal railway accident in Spain in 2026: in January, a collision killed 45 people. The report does not give the number of victims of the current accident or its possible causes — this information remained unknown at the time of publication.