Image source, Reuters

At least 68 people have been killed after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid, with dozens more seriously injured.

Speaking from the crash site, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says "the whole of Spain is grieving", adding: "Lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, the pain is immense."

Passenger Eduarda was travelling with her two cats and told Hoy por Hoy, a Spanish radio programme, that after the collision she heard screams and saw a carriage on fire, with people under the train who had died.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente says a computer failure led to the initial halt of six moving trains, including the two trains that subsequently collided.

"In the event of a system failure, the control centre takes over," Puente says, adding it was the control centre which decided to allow the trains to move again, without any speed restrictions.

That decision, Puente said, was made "under inexplicable circumstances", and resulted in the collision.

An investigation is under way, dozens are being treated in hospital and three days of mourning have been announced by the prime minister.

More now on the emerging details about those injured in today's crash.

Emergency services say 77 people are in hospital, while Spain's Minister of Health Mónica García says 15 are "seriously injured".

In a post on X, she says "all hospitals have activated their contingency plans, reinforcing emergency services and operating rooms and reorganising care activities".

Sánchez also says any "failures in the security system" will be addressed.

Referencing a deadly rail crash which killed 48 in Spain on the same line earlier this year, he says: "At the moment it looks like the causes behind both crashes have nothing in common, but it's not up to me but to the investigation to establish that.

"We will need to do everything in our power to restore public confidence in our high-speed railway network. It is unacceptable for a country like Spain to experience two high-speed rail accidents in the same year."

He also announces three days of mourning beginning tomorrow.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, Reuters

More now from Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez, who has been speaking near the crash site.

He says: "Today Spain is grieving, the whole of Spain is grieving, and we express all our solidarity and empathy with the relatives of the victims and the injured who are still in hospital, and whom we wish a speedy recovery.

"Behind each victims is... a destroyed family, pain, and anguish... which the people of Spain share."

He says the first priority of the government is to "offer support to the injured and victims and relatives of this terrible tragedy".

The second objective, he goes on, is "to clarify what happened, why this tragedy occurred".

He adds: "The ministers of transport and interior are trying to determine what was the origin of this tragedy, of this terrible accident... and we will get to the bottom of this, and if there has been any negligence, it will come to light."

Image source, Reuters

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has visited the emergency centre set up near the crash site.

“Today the whole of Spain is grieving," he says.

"Lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, the pain is immense."

We'll have more of his comments shortly.

The death toll has now risen to 68, local president Emiliano García-Page tells Spanish media.

As reported earlier, dozens are still being treated for serious injuries.

Eduarda was travelling with her two cats and told Hoy por Hoy, a Spanish radio programme, the crash propelled her forward, breaking the table in front of her seat, with passengers around her suffering from cuts and bruises.

Once outside, she heard screams and saw a carriage on fire, with people under the train who had died.

Separately, Miguel Ángel Pérez was on board the high speed train when he heard "a terrible crash".

"The carriage partially overturned," he told Spanish TV program La Hora de La 1.

He went on: "Some suffered bruises from the open tray tables, but luckily there were few people standing.

"We felt the train move, derail, and we were tilted. It was a terrible few seconds."

Laura Gozzi
Europe reporter

Image source, Reuters

Transport minister Óscar Puente appeared in front of the cameras for the first time a short while ago to share some details about the crash. The accident, he said, was "truly unbelievable".

According to Puente, a computer failure led to the initial halt of six moving trains, including the two trains that subsequently collided.

"In the event of a system failure, the control centre takes over," Puente says, adding it was the control centre which decided to allow the trains to move again, without any speed restrictions.

That decision, Puente said, was made "under inexplicable circumstances". It resulted in the Renfe train crashing into the Iryo train, which was stationary on the tracks further ahead.

The rail operator Iryo says its train was "struck from behind" by a Renfe train "due to causes that are still unknown".

The rail operator also confirms in a post on X, external that the affected train was carrying 147 passengers, three crew members, one barista, and one driver.

It adds that it's working with the other rail operators involved to "clarify the causes" of the crash.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Spanish journalist Roberto Gómez has described being on the high-speed train when it crashed into the train in front on the same track.

Gómez said he had been asleep when the train stopped and an announcement was relayed to passengers that there was congestion on the tracks. The train began to move again, he explained, and then the crash happened.

"The impact was terrible," he told Onda Cero radio. "You can imagine, the carriage is completely destroyed. All the suitcases are all over the wrecked carriage."

Gómez suffered only minor injuries but described another passenger falling on top of him and sustaining a deep gash on his head.

"We were able to help people who had suffered severe blows to their chest and ribs," he said.

The situation was extremely chaotic and very distressing, and several minutes later he and others eventually managed to climb out of the window, he added.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Reuters

For most Spanish political leaders the devastating scenes emerging on the high-speed rail line south of Toledo mean that the campaign ahead of the 29 November general election is for the moment on hold.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the conservative People's Party leader who's seen as the front-runner in the election race, has said "the priority now is to attend to the victims" and the PP has suspended all its campaign activity.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist PSOE has also cancelled its events today, and he's given all his "affection, solidarity and support" to anyone caught up in the tragedy.

But there's no such suspension of politics for Spain's far-right Vox party, which is seen as a possible coalition partner for Feijóo's conservatives after next month's vote.

Santiago Abascal has gone on TV to condemn the "deterioration of infrastructure and institutions in Spain which frankly is totally unbearable" and he has blamed it on the current government, complaining of the "neglect, ruin, betrayal suffered by the Spanish people".

There has been no confirmation yet of what led to the accident, but Abascal also refused to halt campaigning ahead of a regional vote in January in the aftermath of the Adamuz rail disaster, which claimed 46 lives on the same high-speed line.

Image source, Reuters

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is travelling to Urda, the area of the train crash.

The Spanish government says on X that the PM will "support the work of the emergency teams and convey his support to those affected and their families".

"The priority is to attend to the victims and ensure the maximum coordination between administrations," it adds.

A massive emergency response is ongoing at the crash site near Urda, while people waiting for news about their loved ones have gathered nearby.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Drone footage analysed by the BBC Visual Journalism team shows how part of the Renfe train fell off the tracks and carriages of the Iryo train also came off the tracks.

Both trains were travelling in the same direction from Madrid to Seville.

Rail appears to pierce through carriage, image and videos showpublished at 13:43 GMT

13:43 GMT

By Sam Howarth, Thomas Spencer and Charlotte Green

A picture examined by BBC Verify from the aftermath of the crash appears to show a long section of railway track piercing through one of the trains involved.

Image source, X

The track seems to have passed through the carriage, and is visible emerging from the roof and protruding roughly 10 metres further beyond the train.

Two verified videos, filmed from opposite sides of the tracks, also confirm the bent rail has passed through a carriage bearing the logo of Renfe AVE, the Spanish national rail company’s high-speed service.

Other footage, filmed from the tracks on the opposite side of the Renfe train, shows the bent rail apparently coming through one of the carriages.

Image source, X

Guy Hedgecoe
Reporting from Urda

I'm about 200m away from the crash site and I can see one of the carriages lying on its side.

We know there are at least 80 people who are injured - 50 of those are believed to be serious.

Many of them are being treated in nearby hospitals, others are being sent to Madrid which is about 100 miles (140km) away.

There have been helicopters coming over the crash site all morning.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Spain was already reeling from the Adamuz high-speed rail disaster outside Córdoba, in which 46 people died.

It happened on the same high-speed rail line, but much further south. Now we have learned that the death toll near Urda today has risen to 64.

Not since July 2013 has Spain seen such a devastating rail disaster. Eighty people died in that high-speed rail crash on a curve on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain.

All 13 carriages on the train came off the track in that crash, many of them careering into a concrete barrier.

In the latest tragedy four carriages left the track, but two trains were involved, and again there will be close scrutiny on Spain's rail infrastructure, once considered the best in Europe.

The Castilla La Mancha regional government says 64 people are now confirmed to have died in the rail crash.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) says 24 football matches are to be postponed in "solidarity with the victims of the tragic train accident".

The matches were due to take place today for the first round of the Copa del Rey, the country's cup competition.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

We've already heard from Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García Page that the death toll has risen above 30, with 24 deaths confirmed on the high-speed Renfe train and six on the other Iryo train.

Officials say another 80 people are being treated for injuries.

The regional leader has spoken to reporters at the scene of the high-speed rail crash near Urda and given several media interviews, in which he's said that about 50 people are described as in a serious condition and 15 more are in a critical condition.

Relatives of one passenger, former government minister Fátima Báñez, have also gone to the scene.

Báñez is head of Spain's Confederation of Business Organisations, CEOE, which has said it is devastated by the rail accident and awaiting news about its president.