Two high‑speed trains collided on Wednesday, causing the suspension of the Madrid‑Andalusia high‑speed rail line. The incident was reported by the rail operator Adif on the social‑media platform X. According to Adif, the collision involved a Renfe train and an Iryo train sometime after 9:00 a.m. local time. Two wagons of the Iryo train fell off the tracks, according to a spokesperson for the Castilla‑La Mancha regional government. The crash occurred between the towns of Mora and Orgaz on the Madrid‑Seville line. The exact cause of the accident and the number of injuries are still under investigation. Manuel Galan, mayor of the municipality of Urda near Toledo, said that emergency services had asked him to prepare a sports hall to accommodate the injured. The Castilla‑La Mancha government activated the Territorial Plan for Extraordinary Situations (PLATECAM) at 9:15 a.m., placing the province of Toledo in an operational emergency status 1. The PLATECAM system ordered the activation of the plan because of the railway accident, and the Coordination Service for Emergency Services 1‑1‑2 mobilised all relevant operational groups, including the Advanced Command Post (PMA), which oversees the situation and makes operational decisions. Civil Guard units, firefighters from the Toledo and Ciudad Real provincial consortia, Civil Protection volunteers, and medical teams from the Castilla‑La Mancha Health Service (SESCAM) were dispatched to the scene. An advanced medical point was set up for triage, first aid, and transport of the injured to hospitals. The Red Cross psychosocial support team and the Chamber of Social Workers were also notified. Rafael Escudero, spokesperson for the railway union, described the incident as “very strange” in an interview with Antena 3. He noted that the area was not designated for stopping, that rail traffic is monitored in real time, and that trains receive real‑time information about track conditions, which should cause a train to stop if a obstacle is detected. Sources from the 112 emergency line reported that two wagons had fallen onto an embankment. Initial information from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility indicated that a Renfe AVE train had struck an Iryo train, leading to the derailment of two Iryo wagons.
Article source: Večernji List | Image credit: Večernji List