Two trains collide near Urda in Spain, leaving at least 69 dead and about 100 injured

The collision and the toll

Two high-speed trains collided on the Madrid-Seville line near Urda, a village of about 2,500 people in Toledo province, on the morning of Wednesday 28 October. Spanish authorities put the toll at at least 69 dead and about a hundred injured. A 7sur7 count as of Thursday, 29 October, listed 52 people with serious injuries. Early findings place most of the dead and wounded in the last carriage of the Iryo train. Identifying the victims is slow under strict Spanish procedures, and only two had been formally identified when reporting was done. Spain observed its first day of national mourning on Thursday, while residents moved the injured and their relatives between a school and a sports hall about eight kilometres from the site.

An earlier crash on the same line

Both accidents happened on the Madrid-Seville line, and the Iryo operator was involved in each. A derailment of an Iryo train at Adamuz in Andalusia killed 46 people on 18 January 2026, and transport minister Óscar Puente stayed in post afterwards.

Adamuz, 18 Jan 202646

Urda, 28 Oct 2026 (at least)69

Adamuz, 18 Jan 2026

46 people

Urda, 28 Oct 2026 (at least)

69 people

Data from the article text

El Mundo reported that at 9:08 on 28 October, about fifteen minutes after the collision, Puente shared a video on X featuring Brazil's re-elected president, with a message about the moral superiority of the left. He was heading to an infrastructure forum in Madrid when he learned of the crash and turned back to Atocha station. After speaking with technicians from Adif, the rail network manager, he told reporters that human error lay behind an accident he called implausible and inexplicable. Calls for his resignation are mounting in the Spanish press, which also directs anger at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Questions over private operators and safety

Commentators have asked whether the growing number of private operators played a part. Philippe Lorand of the International Union of Railways (UIC) told 20 Minutes he saw no such link.

“I don't think there is a link to be made.”

Lorand said the investigation must come first and that human error appears to be the likely cause, while European safety rules are harmonised even though countries keep their own specifics. He added that the restart protocol, which requires trains to move slowly under sight, does not appear to have been followed on Wednesday. Former transport minister François Durovray told BFM TV that such an accident is almost impossible in France, citing several layers of safety and restarts at about 40 km/h. Cédric Gimenez of the CGT-Cheminot union rejected a direct comparison with France but said maintenance had slipped since the network opened to competition, pointing to new operators on the Marseille-Nice line that add 14 trains a day.

Victims and the royal response

Among the dead is Fátima Báñez, 59, a former labour minister from 2011 to 2018 and a former People's Party member, according to BFM TV. The CEOE employers' confederation confirmed her death and described her as president of its foundation. She was in the last carriage of the Iryo train, travelling to Seville for a company day event.

Also among the victims are a 31-year-old Guardia Civil officer who was heading back to Andalusia, a 24-year-old long jumper from the AD Sprint club in Madrid, and a 32-year-old Argentine-Italian podiatrist. The Spanish athletics federation said on social media that the sport was in mourning.

King Felipe VI visited a Toledo hospital treating the injured and said the investigation must establish how and why the disaster happened. He also called for measures to be studied so that it does not happen again. Official findings are still pending.