Special report · Updated on 1 November 2026, 12:40
Urda rail accident (Toledo)
A Renfe AVE and an Iryo train collided at 8:54 on Wednesday 28 October between Mora and Urda, near Los Yébenes. High-speed rail between Madrid and Andalusia is suspended until further notice.
Emiliano García-Page, in the statement after Friday's CECOPI meeting broadcast by La Moncloa · viernes, 10:31
Of the 110 people taken to hospital in Castilla-La Mancha, 79 have been discharged and 31 remain in four hospitals, 13 of them in intensive care: 18 in Toledo (7 in intensive care), 6 in Alcázar de San Juan (2 in intensive care), 6 in Ciudad Real (3 in intensive care) and 1 in Albacete, in intensive care, according to Sunday's update from the regional health service (Sescam) reported by elDiario.es. One of the dead died in hospital. Madrid's health service has provided 122 instances of care related to the accident and 10 injured people remain in Madrid hospitals, 3 of them in intensive care, according to the regional Health Department as reported by elDiario.es. There were 544 people on the two trains: 397 on the AVE and 146 passengers and a baby on the Iryo, according to the Government of Castilla-La Mancha.
There are 68 complete bodies at the mortuaries plus the person who died in hospital. In addition, 31 bags of partial remains have been recovered, which are very hard to identify, so García-Page does not rule out the death toll going above 70. At 21:26 on Saturday, according to the Integrated Data Centre as reported by elDiario.es, 56 of the 69 dead had been identified: 54 Spanish nationals, one French and one Portuguese; 52 by fingerprints and 4 by DNA. 51 have been communicated to families (33 men and 18 women) and the remains of 36 are now available to their families. The 13 still to be identified are all foreign nationals and depend on international cooperation; 13 missing-person reports for foreign nationals remain open: four from the United States, two from Japan, two from Australia and one each from Argentina, Canada, Mexico, the Czech Republic and Tunisia. The victims may include people of up to 27 nationalities, according to Sánchez. The figure of 74 that circulated was an error and has been corrected: the official AITAT case file keeps 69.
Helplines for families
900 10 10 20 Renfe
900 001 403 Iryo
900 122 112 Government of Castilla-La Mancha
The latest, hour by hour
The figures are provisional and have kept changing. Shown here: how it began, the most important updates (highlighted) and the latest; the rest is collapsed. Each item says who gave it.
The LZB safety system fails, forcing six trains to stop along a stretch of about 69 kilometres.
A Renfe AVE (train 2080) hits an Iryo train (6076) from behind at kilometre point 118 of the high-speed line, between Mora and Urda (Toledo). Two carriages fall down an embankment.
Source: Adif and 112 Castilla-La Mancha
The Government of Castilla-La Mancha activates its emergency plan (PLATECAM) in the emergency phase, operational level 1. An advanced command post is set up and the Urda sports hall is opened for those affected.
Source: Government of Castilla-La Mancha
Show 37 more updates (Wednesday, 09:40 to 14:17)
Adif suspends high-speed services between Madrid and Andalusia. The Ministry of Transport says the line is closed «until further notice» and asks people not to go to the stations.
Source: Adif and Ministry of Transport
Pedro Sánchez says he is "dismayed" and in contact with Óscar Puente and García-Page.
Source: La Moncloa
The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, follows the accident from Adif's control centre. He said so himself; he has cancelled his speech at the World Infrastructure Forum.
Castilla-La Mancha Emergencies raises the figure to 39 dead.
Source: COPE
The Government of Castilla-La Mancha raises the emergency plan to operational level 2 and calls in the Military Emergencies Unit (UME). It opens the helpline 900 122 112 for relatives and friends of those affected.
Source: Government of Castilla-La Mancha
Juanma Moreno speaks of «another nightmare» and the Junta de Andalucía sends mobile ICUs and a logistics support vehicle from the Andalusian Health Service.
Source: Junta de Andalucía
Iryo confirms in an official statement that its train 6076, from Madrid to Seville, was involved in the accident at kilometre point 118, near Urda. It cancels all its trains from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha to the Southern Corridor, with no date for their return.
Source: Iryo
Adif opens assistance points for those affected at Madrid-Puerta de Atocha, Sevilla-Santa Justa and Córdoba-Julio Anguita stations.
Source: Adif, via RTVC
The spokesperson for the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, Esther Padilla, confirms at least ten dead, the first official figure.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
The Comunidad de Madrid sends firefighters and SUMMA 112 teams and opens a psychological support point at Atocha.
Source: 112 Comunidad de Madrid
The Comunidad de Madrid Transfusion Centre makes an urgent appeal for blood donations of groups 0+, 0-, A+, A- and B-.
Source: Comunidad de Madrid
Protección Civil raises the figure to 46 dead.
Source: Telecinco
Esther Padilla, at the Toledo hospital, asks people not to go to the hospital for non-urgent reasons.
Source: COPE
Iryo opens a helpline for those affected: 900 001 403.
Source: Iryo
Protección Civil and police sources now speak of at least 50 dead and more than 179 injured.
Source: El Español
Renfe confirms in a statement that the AVE involved left Madrid-Puerta de Atocha at 8:00 for Sevilla-Santa Justa (due at 10:39) and that services are interrupted between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia. It activates its crisis unit and its assistance plan for victims and families (900 10 10 20).
Source: Renfe
Sources close to the investigation and to Renfe point, as the main hypothesis, to a failure of the line's safety system combined with human error. Adif says it has not yet identified the cause.
Source: El Español
The spokesperson for the Government of Castilla-La Mancha maintains the official toll of at least ten dead.
Source: Telecinco
Adif sends its condolences to the families and says it is working in coordination with the emergency services and the rail companies.
Source: Adif
Hundreds of passengers are stranded at Puertollano station. The town council lays on four buses to Córdoba and Seville, and Adif puts on trains on the conventional line towards Ciudad Real and Madrid.
Source: La Comarca de Puertollano
Juanma Moreno cancels his engagements for today and tomorrow and the cabinet meeting that was due to approve the Andalusian budget for 2027.
Source: El Mira
The Guardia Civil releases aerial images of the site and details its deployment: public safety, mobile assistance offices, SEPRONA and Traffic.
Source: Guardia Civil
The Parliament of Andalusia suspends its afternoon plenary session and holds a minute's silence.
Source: Parliament of Andalusia
The Government of Castilla-La Mancha raises the official toll to at least 30 dead. García-Page specifies that 24 were on the AVE and 6 on the Iryo, and expects the figure to rise.
Source: Infobae
King Felipe VI speaks to García-Page to ask about the accident.
Source: Demócrata
Government sources point, according to El País, to a signalling fault that forced some eight trains to stop and to a mistaken authorisation given to the AVE from Adif's control centre in Atocha. These are preliminary conclusions.
Source: CLM24, quoting El País
The Guardia Civil releases images of the rescue and of an injured person being airlifted to the Hospital 12 de Octubre.
Source: Guardia Civil
The Guardia Civil opens offices in Madrid, Seville, Córdoba and Toledo to take DNA samples from first-degree relatives and speed up identification.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
Esther Padilla confirms that all the injured are now out of the carriages and that the recovery of the bodies is beginning. She asks the public to give blood at the hospitals.
García-Page maintains the figure of 30 dead, puts the injured at around 80 and warns that rescuers have not yet reached the far end of the carriages.
Source: La Cerca
The regional government puts the number of injured in hospital at 58: 29 in Toledo (two already discharged), 20 at Mancha Centro, 4 in Ciudad Real, 1 in Albacete and 3 transferred to Madrid.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
The Ministry of Transport repeats the helplines for relatives (Renfe 900 10 10 20, Iryo 900 001 403 and Castilla-La Mancha Emergency Services 900 122 112) and says the UME has joined the rescue.
Source: Ministry of Transport
García-Page raises the death toll to 64: 34 on the Iryo train and the rest on the AVE. He expects the figure to keep rising.
Source: Libertad Digital
Iryo says its train 6076 left at 7:54 with 147 passengers, three crew, a barista and a driver, and at 8:48 was struck from behind by a Renfe series 103 train.
Source: Iryo
The Government of Castilla-La Mancha keeps the death toll at 64. According to El Mundo, the AVE hit the Iryo at more than 100 km/h, and the Iryo had reported an LZB incident that never reached the AVE; Adif has not confirmed this.
Source: Andalucía Información
Feijóo says neither he nor anyone in the PP has any news of former minister Fátima Báñez, who was on the Iryo train according to party sources.
Source: Vozpópuli
The Government of Castilla-La Mancha breaks down the 64 dead: 40 on the Iryo and 24 on the AVE, with about 80 injured. Sánchez travels to Urda, Congress and the Senate suspend their business and Ouigo cancels eight trains. Judge Aristea Ortiz of Orgaz is investigating the case.
Source: elDiario.es
The Ministry of Transport attributes the collision to Adif's control centre at Atocha allowing trains to resume normal running "against the regulations": after the failure, trains could only proceed on sight, at 40 km/h. The AVE hit the Iryo at about 200 km/h at 8:53.
Show 5 more updates (Wednesday)
Rescuers have recovered 34 bodies from the Iryo; six more remain inside a carriage. With the 24 on the AVE, the toll is 64.
Renfe's works council calls for five minutes of silence on Thursday 29 at 12:00 at all workplaces.
Source: Renfe works council
The Guardia Civil judicial police question the Adif control-centre operator who was managing traffic on the section.
Source: Infobae, citing El Confidencial
The CEOE says in a statement that "we have no official confirmation" of Fátima Báñez's death.
Source: El Confidencial Digital
Sánchez adds that "it is not acceptable for a country like Spain to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year" and that "if there has been negligence, it will be known".
Source: Telecinco
Sánchez announces three days of official mourning across Spain, from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October: "We will proceed to declare three days of official mourning."
Source: La Cerca
Show 14 more updates (Wednesday, 14:25 to 15:39)
García-Page announces that the search for victims under the carriages will continue through the night.
Source: Cuadernos Manchegos
The BOE publishes the royal decree of official mourning across Spain, from 00:00 on Thursday 29 to 24:00 on Saturday 31, with flags at half-mast.
Source: BOE
An extraordinary BOJA publishes Presidential Decree 12/2026, declaring official mourning in Andalusia until 14:00 on Saturday 31.
Source: BOJA
García-Page: 64 bodies have been recovered and four remain to be removed from the carriages.
Source: RTVC
Ouigo suspends its trains between Madrid and Andalusia until at least 2 November.
Source: En Castilla-La Mancha
El Debate reports, citing two sources at the scene, that former minister Fátima Báñez died in the accident; she was in the last carriage of the Iryo. Neither her family, the PP, the CEOE nor the authorities have confirmed it.
Source: El Debate
Juanma Moreno declares three days of official mourning in Andalusia, from 14:00 today to 14:00 on Saturday 31 October: "We are devastated."
Source: Junta de Andalucía
The Adamuz Victims' Association offers to support those affected, saying the new tragedy reopens wounds "that are still open".
Source: Adamuz Victims' Association
Óscar Puente speaks at Adif's control centre at Atocha: the LZB failed at around 8:30 along about 69 kilometres and the control centre decided to resume running while the Iryo was stopped. He calls the accident "implausible" and rules out resigning.
Source: OKDiario and El Pespunte
Puente says the control-centre employee who authorised resuming running has been identified: "We have not spoken to him; understand the seriousness of the facts and of the responsibilities this may carry."
Source: Europa Press
The Junta de Andalucía sends four forensic doctors from Seville and Córdoba to help identify the victims, an offer accepted by the Government, as well as 061 mobile ICUs, psychologists and the Andalusian Victim Support Service.
Source: Moncloa.com
The Community of Madrid declares three days of official mourning.
Source: Libertad Digital
Sánchez speaks in Urda with Marlaska and García-Page: "Today Spain is in mourning, all of Spain is in mourning." The priority is "to find, hopefully, as many people alive as possible"; the second goal, "to establish what happened".
Source: La Moncloa
García-Page gives the casualty count: about 53 in amber code and 15 in red code; the rest, minor. He reports one more death and announces dog units to keep searching.
Source: La Moncloa
García-Page raises the death toll to 68: 24 on the AVE and the rest on the Iryo.
Show 4 more updates (Wednesday, 17:35 to 18:41)
Feijóo, from Urda, calls for "an immediate government investigation and a judicial one" and "a full and independent review of the entire rail network". On Fátima Báñez: "we still have no confirmed news".
Source: Partido Popular
Renfe blocks high-speed ticket sales between Madrid and Andalusia until 13 December; it says this does not mean the line will stay closed until then.
Source: Telemadrid
The High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha activates the national protocol for incidents with multiple victims. The Orgaz court on duty is in charge; a judge from Alcázar de San Juan coordinates the proceedings, with five teams of judge, court clerk and forensic doctor. The National Institute of Toxicology joins in. Phone line for victims and families: 925 317 020.
The Interior Ministry details the deployment: 422 Guardia Civil officers with 123 units, 102 Civil Protection staff, three helicopters, drones, mounted police, dogs and assistance offices.
Source: Interior Ministry
Juanma Moreno, in an institutional statement: "The Madrid-Andalusia AVE has ceased to be a safe means of transport." He calls for an immediate review of all Andalusian lines. On Báñez: "one more Andalusian among those of whom we still have no news".
Source: Junta de Andalucía
Show 2 more updates (Wednesday, 19:22 to 19:27)
The Independent Administrative Authority for the Technical Investigation of Accidents (AITAT), which replaced the CIAF in July, says it is "still too early" to talk about causes.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
Emergency services put the number in hospital in Castilla-La Mancha at 107, plus those taken to Madrid.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
Renfe: on Thursday 29 high-speed trains between Madrid and Andalusia remain suspended. From Friday 30, an alternative transport plan. Strike on Thursday.
Source: Renfe
Show 31 more updates (Wednesday 20:53 to Thursday 10:27)
The Guardia Civil will continue searching the carriages through the night, with heavy machinery already removing them.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
53 injured remain in hospital in Castilla-La Mancha, 18 in critical condition: 12 in Toledo, 4 in Ciudad Real, 1 in Mancha Centro and 1 in Albacete.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
The judge bans access to the site to preserve evidence, orders the black boxes to be kept in custody and places the case under judicial secrecy.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
Renfe and Iryo open four Family Assistance Centres with psychological support: Toledo, Madrid-Atocha, Córdoba-Julio Anguita and Sevilla-Santa Justa.
Source: Iryo
Integrated Data Centre: the Toledo forensic institute has received 52 bodies and carried out 8 autopsies; 2 more victims, who had been admitted injured in Ciudad Real and Alcázar de San Juan, are at the Ciudad Real institute. Identification begins on Thursday. By 20:30 the Guardia Civil had taken 29 missing-person reports: 13 in Madrid, 9 in Toledo and 7 in Seville.
Source: Integrated Data Centre (TSJCLM)
Renfe publishes an alternative plan for the Avant Madrid-Ciudad Real-Puertollano services, with a change of train in Ciudad Real.
Source: Castilla-La Mancha Media
The Guardia Civil UCO questions the control-centre operator and his whole shift. Alcohol and drug tests on the controllers come back negative, according to Público.
Source: Moncloa.com and Público
Iryo maintains that its train was still stopped because it received no order to move; the Government says that instruction was given.
The UME military emergency unit rotates its teams at Urda, bringing two search dogs and a digger; overnight it cut open and lifted carriages.
The 24-hour strike by Renfe train drivers called by the Semaf union begins. Minimum services set by the Ministry of Transport: 73% on high-speed, 65% on regional and 50 to 75% on Cercanías commuter trains.
Source: Ministry of Transport, according to Libertad Digital
The UME releases a video of one of the carriages being cut open and lifted overnight.
Source: UME
El País, Cadena SER and elDiario.es publish recordings between the drivers and the control centre: the AVE was ordered to resume at normal speed, not on line-of-sight running.
Source: Libertad Digital
Schedule: Sánchez attends the coordination meeting at the operations centre around 10:00, and Feijóo speaks in Urda around 12:45.
Source: Libertad Digital
More than 1,000 people have given blood at the Toledo University Hospital.
Source: Toledo University Hospital, according to Libertad Digital
The Family Assistance Centre in Toledo moves to the Casa de Ejercicios El Buen Pastor (Ronda de Buenavista, 5).
Source: Iryo
The Government of Mexico reports one Mexican citizen missing and seven with minor injuries.
Argentina confirms the death of an Argentine citizen; another has not been located. South Korea confirms South Korean citizens are among the injured, and Japan says two Japanese nationals are on the passenger list.
Source: Argentine Foreign Ministry and the governments of South Korea and Japan, according to El Español
59 relatives and 13 members of the emergency teams are staying at the Casa Sacerdotal in Toledo.
Source: Government Delegation in Castilla-La Mancha, according to Libertad Digital
The Comunidad de Madrid is treating 98 injured passengers, four of them in intensive care (figures at 8:30).
CEOE says it still has "no news" of Fátima Báñez, president of its Foundation.
Source: CEOE, according to El Español
The Guardia Civil has now received 64 reports from relatives unable to locate someone who was on the trains. They are not 64 more missing people: one person may be the subject of several reports, and it is not known how many have been resolved.
53 injured remain in hospitals in Castilla-La Mancha, 15 of them in intensive care.
Pedro Sánchez meets García-Page and Marlaska in Urda at the CECOPI, the emergency coordination centre. No press appearance is planned.
Source: El Español and Libertad Digital
The King and Queen will visit the injured at the Toledo University Hospital at 15:00.
The Archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro, asks for church bells to toll for the dead at 12:00.
Source: Archdiocese of Toledo, according to Libertad Digital
The Andalusian Government's minister for the Presidency, Antonio Sanz, calls it "petty" to blame a worker and criticises that the Madrid-Seville AVE is the only line with an old safety system.
Teams are working "very carefully" until they confirm nobody is left in the carriages, using dogs and thermal drones.
Source: Esther Padilla on TVE, according to Libertad Digital
At Urda, 250 UME troops with 85 vehicles, 102 Civil Protection staff, 53 National Police officers and 422 Guardia Civil officers with 123 vehicles are at work.
Source: El Español
Travellers leave flowers and candles at an improvised memorial in the arrivals hall of Madrid-Puerta de Atocha.
Source: Libertad Digital
The Comunidad de Madrid has collected 4,100 blood donations.
Frente Amplio will ask for Óscar Puente to appear before the Standing Committee of Congress.
Source: El Español
García-Page, after the CECOPI meeting: 69 dead, one more having died in hospital. Of the 110 admitted on Wednesday, 60 have been discharged and 50 remain in hospital; the four most serious are improving. Sánchez announces that the State will provide material compensation to the families and pledges to clarify the tragedy and strengthen safety "so that this does not happen again".
Source: La Moncloa (broadcast statement)
Show 17 more updates (Thursday, 10:58 to 13:00)
The SUMMA 112 psychosocial support point at Atocha has assisted almost 200 people: 155 relatives and 41 passengers.
Warning to families: fake text messages claiming to come from the Guardia Civil and to report identifications are circulating. The Guardia Civil always informs families in person, never by phone.
Source: Integrated Data Centre, in a note released by the High Court of Castilla-La Mancha
The Foreign Ministry puts at least 42 the number of foreign nationals of seven nationalities affected: one dead (Argentine), seven injured, ten unharmed and 24 whose situation is still unknown.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to El Español
Andalusian hospitals have treated eleven people with minor injuries from the accident and expect more to arrive.
Source: Antonio Sanz, Andalusian Government, according to Libertad Digital
ERC and Podemos file a request for Óscar Puente to appear urgently before the Standing Committee of Congress.
Source: El Español
Pope Leo XIV says he is "deeply saddened" in a telegram to the Archbishop of Toledo.
Source: El Español
The Guardia Civil continues searching for possible missing people with dogs trained to detect biological remains.
Sánchez visits Adif's control centre at Atocha at 12:00.
The train drivers' union Semaf regrets the leak of the recordings: they "should have been kept secure".
Source: El Español
The King and Queen cancel their engagements this week; their only appearance will be the visit to the injured at the Toledo hospital around 15:00, with García-Page and the mayor, Milagros Tolón.
Source: Royal Household, according to El Español and Libertad Digital
A separate incident, unrelated to Urda: an Ouigo train with 454 passengers comes to a halt in the El Regajal tunnel (Ontígola) because of an overhead line fault, with no injuries. There are delays on the Madrid-Levante line.
Technical investigators go to Adif's control centre at Atocha to request the recordings, all the information on the accident and the track-diagram recording. El Español attributes them to the CIAF, which became the AITAT in July.
Source: El Español
Vox files a lawsuit at the Supreme Court against Óscar Puente for reckless homicide and injury.
Source: El Español
Iberia schedules three extra flights from Madrid (two to Málaga and one to Seville) and Air Europa increases Seville to up to four daily flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Source: Libertad Digital
A minute's silence at the forward command post in Urda with Marlaska and García-Page.
Source: Libertad Digital
Feijóo arrives at the command post in Urda: he calls for "a cool head, respect, but also memory" and demands political accountability.
Source: Libertad Digital and El Español
Seven of the 64 missing-person reports have been filed in Andalusia.
Source: elDiario.es
CEOE confirms the death of Fátima Báñez, president of its Foundation: its vice-president, Miguel Garrido, announces it.
Source: CEOE, according to El Español
Show 12 more updates (Thursday, 14:53 to 17:02)
Feijóo: "With enormous sadness we have been told that Fátima Báñez is one of those who died in the Urda train accident".
Source: Partido Popular
The Comunidad de Madrid has treated 104 injured people; three are still in intensive care. More than 6,000 people have given blood.
Sánchez spends some two and a half hours at Adif's control centre at Atocha with Puente, without making any statement.
Source: El Español
The Guardia Civil will only contact relatives of missing people when it has news of them, and reminds them of the offices for reports and DNA samples in Toledo, Córdoba, Seville and Madrid.
The train drivers' union Semaf announces further strikes to demand safety.
Source: El Español
The King and Queen visit the injured at the Toledo University Hospital. García-Page welcomes them.
The Guardia Civil is working "as fast as possible" to identify the dead.
Renfe confirms its alternative plan for the Madrid-Andalusia corridor from Friday, while high-speed services remain suspended; it will publish the timetables on its official channels.
Source: Renfe, according to Telecinco
The Guardia Civil maps the accident site with drones for the investigation.
Source: Telecinco
At the Toledo forensic institute, 25 forensic doctors are matching relatives' DNA; the process may take several days.
Source: Telecinco
Óscar Puente will appear before the Standing Committee of Congress on Tuesday 3 November, at his own request.
Source: The Objective
Óscar Puente will ask to appear, at his own request, before the Standing Committee of Congress.
Source: Ministry of Transport sources, according to Telecinco
King Felipe VI, leaving the Toledo hospital: "As a society, we are suffering a very hard blow once again. But we must keep moving forward, even with that pain". On the investigation: "It must determine how and why this catastrophe happened".
Source: El Pespunte
Show 5 more updates (Thursday, 17:16 to 20:54)
A minute's silence at the forward command post in Urda for the 69 dead.
Source: Telecinco
Renfe's alternative plan for Friday will combine train to a certain point and coach from there, or the other way round; there are still no timetables. Coach companies in the Confebus association have multiplied their seats by up to five on some routes.
Source: Público
Iryo will refund tickets and provide alternative transport, accommodation and meals to anyone who needs them.
Source: Iryo, according to Telecinco
Semaf calls new strikes at Renfe on 10 and 12 November; Renfe puts Thursday's strike turnout at 26.6%. Ouigo cancels its Friday and Monday trains.
Source: Telecinco
The King and Queen visit the families of the missing at the Casa Sacerdotal in Toledo.
Source: Telecinco
Renfe postpones the alternative plan between Madrid and Andalusia planned for Friday: the Semaf union demands the 96-hour notice period for changing shifts, so it will not start before Tuesday 3 November.
First AITAT report: the AVE hit the Iryo at between 160 and 200 km/h; the AVE's leading car became embedded in the Iryo's rear car. The recorders of both trains are in Guardia Civil custody. The official case file (146/2026) keeps 69 dead, with the injured still to be confirmed.
Source: AITAT, according to El Progreso; case file on the Ministry of Transport website
Show 32 more updates (Thursday 22:45 to 01/11 09:26)
Sánchez returns on Friday at 10:00 to the CECOPI meeting in Toledo, with Marlaska.
The judge widens the security perimeter around the carriages; work continues overnight next to Urda station. The AITAT keeps all hypotheses open.
Source: Telecinco
42 injured people remain in hospital in Castilla-La Mancha.
Source: Emergency services, according to Castilla-La Mancha Media
The auxiliary bishop of Toledo, César García Magán, says there will later "probably" be a state funeral in Toledo cathedral, with bishops, authorities and the King and Queen invited. No date has been set.
Source: Religión Digital
In 2022, in tender documents, Adif wrote that the "obsolete and non-interoperable LZB signalling system" on the Madrid-Seville line needed to be renewed, as it "largely prevents" services by new operators. Iryo and Ouigo trains are fitted with ERTMS and need an add-on module to run under LZB.
Source: The Objective
First identifications: the Guardia Civil's Criminalistics Service has identified five of the dead, three women and two men, from their fingerprints, and their families have been informed. Forensic doctors have carried out 48 post-mortems. The Guardia Civil has received 70 reports from relatives unable to locate someone; two of those people have been found alive.
The AITAT keeps all hypotheses open and warns that no explanations can be "ventured" beyond the established facts; its conclusions will be set out in the final report.
Source: AITAT note, according to Europa Press in The Objective
The Archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro, will celebrate a Mass for the victims on Saturday 31 at 12:00 in the parish church of Urda.
Source: Europa Press, in The Objective
Sánchez and García-Page meet at the CECOPI in Toledo. Transport Minister Óscar Puente will speak at 11:30 to give the latest official figures.
Source: Libertad Digital
Castilla-La Mancha lowers the emergency to level 1: many resources are stood down and only court-ordered work and security remain on site; more than 1,300 people have taken part. The death toll stays at 69, but 31 bags of partial remains have been recovered and García-Page does not rule out it going above 70. 39 people remain in hospital in Castilla-La Mancha, and no further victims were found when the overturned carriage was turned over.
Source: Emiliano García-Page, after the CECOPI meeting, live from La Moncloa
Sánchez: the victims may include people of up to 27 nationalities. "Trust in the high-speed system has been broken"; the Government will not only investigate the causes but also propose measures to strengthen it.
Source: Pedro Sánchez, after the CECOPI meeting, live from La Moncloa
Fátima Báñez will be buried in her home town, San Juan del Puerto (Huelva).
Source: Europa Press, in The Objective
Óscar Puente, at a press conference at the Ministry, rules out resigning: "My way of being responsible is to face up to things. My duty now is to solve the problem and give clear explanations." The causes, he says, will have to be established by "the investigation and the courts": "I am not a judge."
Source: Euronews
Puente gives the full sequence: the Iryo reported at 8:48 that it could not start and the control centre "took no action"; about 17 minutes passed between the order to the AVE and the collision. Adif's protocol for two trains on the same section "is not the decision that was taken" by the operator, who has been removed from duty. ERTMS on the Madrid-Seville line will be running "early in 2027".
Source: Óscar Puente's press conference, in the elDiario.es recording
Puente: the main line of inquiry is still that the control centre authorised the AVE to move off again while the Iryo was stopped; the AVE travelled about 25 kilometres before the collision. "We still don't know why the Iryo train could not start again." There have been about 170 LZB incidents and there are procedures for them; Wednesday's failure left about 63 kilometres of track unprotected. "My way of taking responsibility is to lead from the front; I will not hide behind anyone."
Source: Sevilla Actualidad
The Archbishop of Seville, José Ángel Saiz Meneses, offers the cathedral for a funeral Mass for the victims. The mayor, José Luis Sanz, will announce the date next week.
Source: Viva Sevilla
The Guardia Civil has now identified 13 of the 69 dead; eight families have received confirmation.
Source: Investigation sources, according to Europa Press in The Objective
The High Court of Castilla-La Mancha proposes that the Orgaz judge in charge of the case work on it exclusively, with another judge taking over her other cases. Meanwhile, a Toledo judge who is an expert in disasters continues to support her. The Orgaz Civil Registry is speeding up death registrations and burial permits.
The Adif control-centre operator who gave the AVE the order to move off again is, for now, exercising his right not to make a statement to the Guardia Civil.
Source: El Diario de Madrid
The Integrated Data Centre raises the number of post-mortems to 65 and of identifications communicated to families to 12 (nine men and three women). There are 72 missing-person reports; five of those people have been found alive.
Source: Integrated Data Centre, according to Libertad Digital
Puente tells reporters, in an informal meeting after his press conference, that he offered his resignation to Sánchez, who turned it down because leaving now would be "unfair". He also says he does not know whether he will campaign for the general election on 29 November.
Source: Sevilla Actualidad
Renfe lays on coaches from Saturday 31 to Tuesday 3 between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Puertollano, in both directions: two and a half hours from Madrid to Ciudad Real and half an hour more to Puertollano. They leave Madrid-Puerta de Atocha at 8:00, 10:30, 12:00, 14:00, 16:30, 18:00, 20:00 and 22:30, and Puertollano at 6:45, 8:15, 10:00, 12:00, 15:30, 18:15 and 20:15 (on Tuesday, also at 4:45).
Source: Renfe
The forensic institute completes all 69 post-mortems. The Guardia Civil has identified 36 of the dead by fingerprints and has informed families of 27 identifications (18 men and 9 women). 67 missing-person reports remain open, 14 of them for foreign nationals from Argentina, Australia, Canada, the United States, France, Japan, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Tunisia and Venezuela.
Source: Integrated Data Centre, in a note released by the High Court of Castilla-La Mancha
The regional health service (Sescam) lowers the number in hospital to 34 (76 discharged): 15 in intensive care and 19 on wards. The Guardia Civil returns to the crash site with dogs to search for remains or missing people, and the judicial police continue gathering evidence.
Source: En Castilla-La Mancha
Funeral Mass in Urda's parish church, led by the Archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro: "Your pain is also our pain". He announces an official funeral Mass in Toledo cathedral, with no date yet. García-Page and the mayor of Urda attend.
Source: elDiario.es
Diario de Sevilla reports that the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed line is expected to reopen on 14 November, depending on the removal of the trains and repairs to the track. Neither Adif nor the Transport Ministry has given an official date.
Source: Diario de Sevilla, via Demócrata
The Guardia Civil identifies the owner of a drone that was filming over the crash site in the afternoon; it was tracked down by the force's drone and counter-drone team. It points out that a court order bans taking and sharing images of the site.
Source: El Faro de Ceuta
Renfe says in a statement that neither the Urda nor the Adamuz accident can be attributed to the company: infrastructure maintenance and management are not its responsibility. Without naming it, it points to Adif.
Source: elDiario.es
The National Police confirms that one of its officers, Iván Romano Ramos, from Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville), is among the dead; he was travelling in coach 8 of the AVE.
Source: elDiario.es
The Integrated Data Centre raises the number of identified victims to 56 (54 Spanish, one French and one Portuguese), 52 by fingerprints and 4 by DNA; 51 have been communicated to families and the remains of 36 are available to them. The 13 still unidentified are foreign nationals and depend on international cooperation. The Guardia Civil continues searching the site for remains through the night.
Rute Town Council (Córdoba) confirms, after speaking with the family, the death of a 26-year-old local woman, María del Carmen García Guevara, in the accident.
The Guardia Civil remains at ground zero on Sunday to preserve evidence, its spokesman Pedro Pablo Garrido says: the dog unit searched for remains all night under improved lighting, drones watch from the air and mounted units comb hard-to-reach ground. Only security forces and authorised judicial staff may enter, within two kilometres of the track.
Source: Guardia Civil, via elDiario.es
Sescam lowers the number of patients still in hospital to 31 (13 in intensive care) and raises discharges to 79 of the 110 admitted: 18 in Toledo (7 in intensive care), 6 in Alcázar de San Juan (2), 6 in Ciudad Real (3) and 1 in Albacete, in intensive care.
Source: Sescam, via elDiario.es
Santiago Abascal announces that Vox will join the case over the accident as a popular prosecutor and calls blaming a worker for technical failures «despicable», in an interview with El Mundo.
Source: elDiario.es
Madrid's regional Health Department puts at 122 the instances of care related to the accident; 10 injured people remain in Madrid hospitals, 3 in intensive care (Fundación Jiménez Díaz, 12 de Octubre and Ramón y Cajal).
The Castilla-La Mancha government says 23 relatives of victims spent the night at the Casa Sacerdotal in Toledo, where the Family Assistance Centre remains open with transport, meals and psychological support; Renfe, Iryo, the Red Cross and the Ministry of Justice also provide support at the Toledo courts.
Renfe is drafting new instructions for its drivers: if the LZB system partially fails, as it did before the crash, trains will always resume at 40 km/h, El País and Cadena SER report. Renfe confirms the document is being drawn up; the drivers' union Semaf had asked the State Rail Safety Agency for this.
Tuesday's Cabinet meeting is expected to approve a royal decree with aid for those affected and to receive a report from Óscar Puente, who would give a press conference at La Moncloa before appearing before the Standing Committee of Congress, according to government sources.
Source: elDiario.es
If someone you know was on those trains
- Renfe helpline for families: 900 10 10 20. Renfe has activated its crisis unit and its assistance plan for victims of rail accidents and their families, according to its statement.
- Iryo helpline for those affected: 900 001 403, according to its statement.
- Family Assistance Centres run by Renfe and Iryo, with psychological support: in Toledo, since Thursday at the Casa de Ejercicios El Buen Pastor, Ronda de Buenavista, 5; in Madrid, at the Sala Club of Puerta de Atocha; in Córdoba, in the VIP room of Julio Anguita station; and in Seville, in the VIP room of Santa Justa. Atocha, Seville, Córdoba and Málaga stations are open 24 hours, according to Iryo (new location in Toledo).
- The Adamuz Victims' Association offers support to those affected and to share its experience, according to its statement; contact at victimasadamuz.es (in Spanish).
- Identifying the victims: the Guardia Civil has opened offices for first-degree relatives, where DNA samples are taken: Seville, Avenida de la Borbolla, 8; Córdoba, Comandancia, entrance on Avenida de los Mozárabes; Madrid, Calle Batalla del Salado, 32; Toledo, Comandancia, Avenida Barber, 42.
- At the stations: Adif has opened assistance points for those affected at Sevilla-Santa Justa, Córdoba-Julio Anguita and Madrid-Puerta de Atocha, as reported by RTVC and CLM24.
- In Urda, the municipal sports centre is a shelter for those affected, and families are being looked after in the sports hall of the Santo Cristo school, according to the Government of Castilla-La Mancha.
- In Madrid, the Comunidad de Madrid has opened a psychological support point at Atocha station.
- Government of Castilla-La Mancha helpline for relatives and friends: 900 122 112.
- Beware of fake text messages claiming to report identifications: the Guardia Civil always informs families in person, never by phone, and people are asked not to trust such messages or calls, according to the note from the Integrated Data Centre released by the High Court of Castilla-La Mancha.
- Hospitals. The most seriously injured are being taken to the Hospital Universitario de Toledo and to the Mancha Centro hospital in Alcázar de San Juan; those with minor injuries, to the Consuegra health centre and the Urda sports centre, according to SESCAM sources quoted by OKDiario. One injured person has been airlifted to the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid. The regional government spokesperson has asked people not to go to hospital for non-urgent reasons.
- Do not go to the accident area unless it is strictly necessary: the emergency services ask this so as not to hinder the rescue.
If more assistance points open at Andalusian stations, we will add them here.
Travelling between Andalusia and Madrid
There are no high-speed trains between Madrid and Andalusia. Adif has suspended services and the Ministry of Transport is keeping the line closed «until further notice». This affects the trains that use the Madrid-Seville line: those to and from Seville, Córdoba, Málaga, Granada, Huelva and Cádiz. The ministry asks anyone with a ticket for today not to go to the station.
No alternative plan until Tuesday 3 November at the earliest. Renfe has postponed the train-and-coach plan between Madrid and Andalusia that was due to start on Friday 30: the train drivers' union Semaf demanded the 96-hour notice period for changing shifts. Renfe will publish timetables, routes and the start date before 3 November, according to Andalucía Información. Semaf has also called strikes at Renfe on 10 and 12 November. From Saturday 31 to Tuesday 3, Renfe's service between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Puertollano runs "entirely by road", with no more trains on the conventional line, according to En Castilla-La Mancha: coaches from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha, with eight departures a day from Madrid (8:00 to 22:30) and seven from Puertollano (6:45 to 20:15), taking two and a half hours to Ciudad Real, according to Renfe's statement. Renfe notices.
If you have a ticket
- Renfe: free changes or cancellations for tickets on the affected trains. Services are interrupted between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia, according to its statement.
- Iryo: has cancelled all its trains from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha to the Southern Corridor and gives no date for their return, according to its official statement. It is refunding tickets and, where needed, offering alternative transport, accommodation and meals, according to Telecinco.
- Ouigo: has suspended its trains between Madrid and Andalusia until at least 2 November, and has cancelled all its trains on Friday 30 and Monday 2 because of the lack of minimum services during the strike, according to En Castilla-La Mancha.
- Ticket sales: Renfe is not selling high-speed tickets between Madrid and Andalusia until 13 December, although it says the line need not stay closed until then, according to Telemadrid.
Other ways to get there
- Plane: there are flights to Madrid from the airports of Seville, Málaga, Granada, Almería and Jerez. Iberia is scheduling three extra flights from Madrid, two to Málaga and one to Seville, and Air Europa is increasing Seville to up to four daily flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, according to Libertad Digital.
- If you are stranded in Puertollano: the town council has laid on four buses to Córdoba and Seville, and will add more if needed. Passengers pay for the ticket and then claim it back from Adif. Adif has put on trains on the conventional line towards Ciudad Real and Madrid. This is reported by La Comarca de Puertollano, quoting the mayor.
- Coach: no general replacement bus plan has been announced. Check with the coach companies in your city.
- By road: check the traffic on the DGT website before setting off.
When Adif gives a reopening date, we will post it here.
Images
- Aerial video of the area and of the Guardia Civil deployment (Guardia Civil, on X).
- Video of the rescue and of an injured person being airlifted to the Hospital 12 de Octubre (Guardia Civil, on X).
- Video of the UME cutting open and lifting one of the carriages overnight (UME, on X).
Photos released by La Moncloa
Giving blood
- Donations are still needed in the coming days, not just today: platelets expire after five days, García-Page reminded after the CECOPI meeting on Thursday. More than 2,000 donations have been registered in the Toledo health area alone, and 4,100 in the Comunidad de Madrid.
- Madrid: the Comunidad de Madrid Transfusion Centre urgently needs groups 0+, 0-, A+, A- and B-, at any donation point.
- Castilla-La Mancha: the hospitals of Toledo and Ciudad Real need blood of all groups. In Toledo, at the Hospital Universitario (9:00 to 14:00) and at the Centro de Especialidades San Ildefonso (9:00 to 14:30 and 16:00 to 20:30), according to COPE. They ask for donations to be spread over several days.
- Andalusia: the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) has not made any appeal. You can give blood at the transfusion centre in each province or at the mobile points: where to give blood today, or call 012.
People aged 18 to 65 who weigh more than 50 kilos and are in good health can give blood. You do not need to fast.
What is known about the causes, and what is not
The Ministry of Transport's account: the collision happened after Adif's control centre at Atocha allowed trains to resume normal running, against the railway regulations, according to ministry sources quoted by Europa Press. The LZB safety system failed at 8:32 and forced six trains to stop along about 69 kilometres. After a failure like that, according to ministry sources, trains may only run "on sight", at 40 km/h. The AVE 2080 reached about 200 km/h and hit the Iryo 6076, which was stationary, at 8:53, at kilometre point 118.
Adif described the accident as "a rear-end collision between two trains" and said in the morning that it had not yet identified the cause. The Guardia Civil speaks of four derailed carriages, according to elDiario.es.
What the minister said: at his press appearance at Atocha, Óscar Puente explained that the LZB failed at around 8:30 along about 69 kilometres because of a communication fault in three computers, and that it was the control centre that decided to resume running while the Iryo was still stopped. He called it "implausible". The person who authorised it has been identified, according to Europa Press, and the minister ruled out resigning. His statement in detail (in Spanish).
On Friday, the full sequence: at a second press conference, Puente said the Iryo reported at 8:48 that it could not start and the control centre "took no action"; about 17 minutes passed between the order to the AVE and the collision. According to the minister, Adif's protocol for two trains on the same section "is not the decision that was taken" by the operator, who has been removed from duty. What he said (in Spanish).
This is the first official explanation, not the conclusion of the investigation. The technical investigation is the responsibility of the Independent Administrative Authority for the Technical Investigation of Accidents (AITAT), which replaced the former CIAF in July and says it is "still too early" to talk about causes, according to Castilla-La Mancha Media. The judicial investigation lies with the Orgaz judge Aristea Ortiz, who has placed the case under judicial secrecy.
Andalusia, once again
Both trains were travelling from Madrid towards Seville, and the closure leaves Andalusia without a high-speed link to Madrid for the second time this year.
- Official mourning across Spain from 00:00 on Thursday 29 to 24:00 on Saturday 31 October, with flags at half-mast: under Royal Decree 949/2026, published in an extraordinary issue of the BOE. In Andalusia, Presidential Decree 12/2026 also applies.
- Three days of official mourning in Andalusia, from 14:00 on Wednesday 28 to 14:00 on Saturday 31 October, as announced by Juanma Moreno: "We are devastated." After Adamuz, the Junta also declared official mourning.
- The Junta de Andalucía has sent mobile ICUs and a logistics support vehicle from the Andalusian Health Service. Its president, Juanma Moreno, spoke of «another nightmare» and recalled that «many Andalusians were travelling on those trains», according to Diario Jaén. He has cancelled his engagements for today and tomorrow and the cabinet meeting that was due to approve the 2027 budget, according to El Mira. The Diputación and the Ayuntamiento de Jaén have also cancelled their engagements.
- The Parliament of Andalusia has suspended its afternoon plenary session and held a minute's silence at 12:00, according to El Español.
- Fátima Báñez. The former Employment minister, born in San Juan del Puerto (Huelva), is among the dead: this was confirmed on Thursday by the PP, in a message from Feijóo, and by the CEOE employers' organisation, whose Foundation she chaired. She was travelling to Seville on the Iryo train (her story, in Spanish).
- Andalusians on board. The Málaga-born actor Manuel Bandera was travelling on the AVE and has said he is fine, according to El Español. We will only give the names of victims confirmed by the authorities, their families or their organisations.
- The 29-N election campaign. The PP has suspended its campaign events, according to Demócrata, and Frente Amplio its pre-campaign events, according to Lanza. The PSOE has cancelled its engagements. Vox is keeping its own.
Nine months after Adamuz
On 18 January 2026, at 19:43, an Iryo train derailed at Adamuz (Córdoba) and a Renfe Alvia hit it about twenty seconds later, on the same Madrid-Seville line. 46 people died, among them the driver of the Alvia, and 292 were injured.
High-speed rail to Andalusia remained closed until 17 February, and the Málaga branch until 27 April because of a landslide. The Guardia Civil investigation pointed to a broken rail caused by a defective weld. Spain and Andalusia declared official mourning.
An Iryo train is involved in Urda too, and it is the same line, but the accident is different: a rear-end collision between two trains, not a derailment.
News about the accident (in Spanish)
- The news story, updated continuously
- Puente: the control centre had 17 minutes and the Iryo warned it was still stopped
- García-Page raises the death toll to 69 and Sánchez announces the State will compensate the families
- Moreno: "The Madrid-Andalusia AVE has ceased to be a safe means of transport"
- Sánchez announces three days of official mourning
- Puente blames the crash on an "inexplicable" decision by the control centre
- Feature: how trains are protected in Andalusia (LZB, ASFA and ERTMS explained, in Spanish)
- Former minister Fátima Báñez dies in the crash
- All AndalucíaYa specials