BARCELONA, Spain — Spain has suffered another deadly train crash, with 68 reported dead from a collision Wednesday morning in Urda, Toledo.
Authorities said that a high-speed train slammed into the back of another train that had stopped.
The president of Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, told Spanish that the death toll had risen to 68.
The latest crash is only nine months after another train collision saw 46 dead in Adamaz in January.
The Spanish Church has offered its condolences to the dead and injured, and assured all affected of its prayers.
“Tragedy has once again crossed the path of our existence,” said Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE).
“The inexorable reality of the cross—manifested in structures, personal and institutional responsibilities, human limitations, and the mystery of evil—invites us to look toward the True Cross of the Christ of Urda, to weep, and to pray,” he added.
“The CEE shares in the grief of those affected and calls for prayers for all the victims during Christian community celebrations,” a statement from the bishops’ conference said.
“Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted and Queen of Peace, it asks the Lord to grant the gift of eternal life to the victims and hope to their families and all those affected,” it added.
Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo, took to social media to express his “deep sorrow” at the reports.
“We pray for the eternal rest of the victims , for the recovery of the injured, for their families, and for all those dedicated to providing assistance,” he said on X.
The crash occurred on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed rail line, with one of the trains going over 100km/h (about 62 mph).
Francisco César García Magán, the secretary general of the CEE and auxiliary bishop of Toledo, wrote on social media that he hopes the victims’ families find “comfort and strength in the Lord during these moments of great suffering.”
“I pray for the eternal rest of the deceased and for the recovery of the injured. I share in the grief of their families,” he added.
Magán also released a statement with Archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro, in which they expressed “their deep concern and their closeness to all those affected.”
They made available the archdiocese, its Caritas, and the parishes of Urda and Los Yébenes — also nearby to the crash site — “to all those affected and their families to offer them the help, accompaniment, and support they may need in these difficult times.
Many leaders, including the king and queen of Spain, also expressed their sympathies for the victims of the crash.
Spain has a general election due at the end of November. All parties, other than hard-right Vox, suspended their electoral commitments.
Adamaz tragedy
In January this year, another train collision killed 46 people and injured 292, this time in Adamaz, in southern Spain.
The crash occurred Jan. 18 in the southern province of Córdoba when a high-speed train traveling from Malaga to Madrid derailed and fell onto another track, colliding with a train traveling in the opposite direction toward Huelva, a city in southern Spain.
