The first signs point to a human error that would have caused an AVE to collide with a stopped Iryo

Madrid / BarcelonaAdif reported this Wednesday morning a collision between two high-speed trains in the province of Toledo that has forced the suspension of train traffic on the line between Madrid and Seville. As reported by the Ministry of Transport, the accident occurred between an AVE train (Renfe) and an Iryo train at a point between the towns of Mora and Urda. At the moment, the definitive extent of the accident regarding injuries and possible fatalities is unknown, although Esther Padilla, spokesperson for the Junta of Castilla-La Mancha, reported through the regional television station that there would be at least ten fatalities. The spokesperson warned, however, that "it is possible" that the number of fatalities will increase as the hours go by. The train accident in Adamuz, in Cordoba, in January of this year left a total of 46 fatalities.

From the ministry, they explain that "according to the first indications," the Renfe train had collided from behind with a stopped Iryo train, which caused "the derailment of two cars of the Iryo train." Although the causes of the accident are still being investigated, human error in the Atocha control center is being pointed to, according to official sources (from the Ministry of Transport) speaking to the newspaper ARA. One of the first hypotheses beginning to circulate from official sources is that the communications system failed at some point in the morning, an event that stopped all trains at once (it is an automatic shutdown generated by the system that stops all trains). When the system resumed, the Iryo train was unable to start again. Instead of stopping the following trains, the control room had given the green light to the AVE, which was coming from behind, signaling it could start. This would have triggered the brutal fatal rear-end collision.

The first images show how two carriages have gone off the tracks and fallen down an embankment, with a large part of them left in ruins. Miguel Ángel Pérez Laguna, one of the passengers who was on the train involved in the accident in Toledo, explained by phone to Catalunya Ràdio that they felt a "giant blow" about 45 or 50 minutes after having left the station, "as if the train were going off the tracks." He was in the last carriage. "Screaming started and on the right side we saw a destroyed Iryo," he recounted. "We tried to get out through the windows and the doors," he said, adding that there are at least several people with "bruises" and that it is "certain" there are deaths. "It was terrible, a dreadful blow," he stated.

Adif personnel have traveled to the area, as well as firefighters from the Alcázar de San Juan and Orgaz stations, Civil Protection from various surrounding towns, and three medical helicopters. The emergency services of the Community of Madrid have also been activated. Europa Press reports that the collision occurred at 8:54 AM.