Rescuers Lift Injured From Twisted Wreckage After High-Speed Trains Collide in Spain, Killing Dozens

Civil Guard rescue teams worked through the wreckage of two high-speed trains that collided near Urda, in Spain’s Toledo province, on Wednesday, October 28, killing at least 68 people.

Spain’s Guardia Civil released footage of its GREIM mountain rescue specialists and other officers at the scene, and of an injured passenger being evacuated by one of its helicopters to Madrid’s 12 de Octubre Hospital. The force said more than 300 officers had been sent to the area to help with rescue work and the investigation.

The crash happened at 8:53 a.m., when a Renfe AVE train with 378 passengers ran into the back of an Iryo train with 147 passengers that had stopped on the line, national broadcaster RTVE reported. Early theories point to human error after a computer fault knocked out the signalling system on a 60-kilometre stretch.

By Thursday, 110 injured people had been treated in hospitals, and 15 remained in a critical condition, regional officials said.