The key facts

  • 69 people died and over 100 were injured in the Urda train crash; fears remain that the death toll could rise
  • Among the victims are 24-year-old long jumper Julieta Gallego and former Employment Minister Fátima Báñez
  • This is Spain's second railway disaster this year and the deadliest since 2013

Urda train crash: 69 dead

On Wednesday morning in central Spain, near Urda, a high-speed Renfe train collided with a stationary Iryo train on the same track. According to BBC News, 69 people have died, while more than 100 were injured, many critically. The collision caused several carriages to derail, and there are concerns that the death toll may rise as relatives search for missing persons in hospitals across the region. The bodies of the deceased have been transferred to the main forensic institute in Toledo, where families are providing DNA samples for identification. This is already the second railway disaster in Spain this year and the deadliest in the country's history since 2013.

Identified victims

Among the victims is 24-year-old long jumper Julieta Gallego, who competed for the Madrid-based club AD Sprint and regularly participated in Spanish club championships; her personal best is 5.90 meters. The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation announced her death, and the federation's president, Raúl Chapado, described the incident as 'a blow to the very heart of the athletics community.' Another victim is 59-year-old Fátima Báñez, former Minister of Employment in Mariano Rajoy's government from 2011 to 2018 and the first woman to hold this position; she led the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), which confirmed her death. In 2012, Báñez implemented a controversial labor reform that made it easier for companies to dismiss employees, sparking widespread protests across the country. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid region, called her 'a major political figure.' Also among the dead is 31-year-old Civil Guard officer José Manuel Chacón and Antonio Montero Domínguez, a lawyer specializing in financial and tax matters, who served as an inspector at the tax authority between 2012 and 2016.

Julieta Gallego during a competition. She is a young woman wearing an athletics singlet.Image source, RFEA
Image caption,

Julieta Gallego, a long-jump athlete, was a regular on Spain's athletics circuit

A woman sitting at a dinner table at an event. She has blonde shoulder-length hair and is wearing a teal blazer.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Fátima Báñez, pictured in 2025

A young man in a black hoodie giving an interviewA man with his head in his hands.Composite image showing a derailed train on the left and a BBC correspondent standing in front of two emergency vehicles on the rightA person in a paramedic vest hugs another person next to a group of people while waiting outside the crash scene in Urda on Wednesday