Units of the Spanish Military Emergency Unit, known as the UME, are heading to the site of a rail accident in Urda, in the province of Toledo, to support rescue work for the victims. Sources from the unit said they are initially deploying soldiers from the first battalion based in Madrid.
The Ministry of the Interior has also activated several Guardia Civil units to join the rescue operation. According to the ministry, officers from public security in Toledo province have been deployed to the area, together with agents from the environmental protection service Seprona and the traffic headquarters. Public security units from Ciudad Real and Albacete, reserve and security groups, the air service, drone teams, the major disaster team of the criminal investigation service and judicial police are also making their way to the scene. Virginia Barcones, the secretary general of Civil Protection and Emergencies, is monitoring the situation in permanent contact with Castilla-La Mancha's civil protection teams.
The accident, which has caused at least 10 deaths according to the initial reports, occurred on the high-speed line between Madrid and Seville near Urda, when a Renfe train struck from behind an Iryo train. The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha requested the UME's intervention and raised the regional emergency plan to level 2, after first activating it at 9:15 in emergency phase, regional sources said.
Following the activation of the regional plan, the 112 emergency service mobilised all competent response groups and set up an advanced command post, from which operational decisions are being taken. Guardia Civil officers, fire crews from the provincial consortia of Toledo and Ciudad Real, Civil Protection volunteers and health resources from the regional health service Sescam have all travelled to the scene.
Earlier reports described a collision at about 9:00 near Los Yébenes, also in Toledo, on the Madrid–Andalusia high-speed line. Adif, the national rail infrastructure manager, suspended train traffic between Madrid and Andalusia while the circumstances were being clarified. Transport Minister Óscar Puente has said the number of victims is not yet definitive and that an erroneous order was given to the train that resumed its journey, while stressing that out of caution no one should yet be blamed. Puente has faced questions over his position after two rail accidents within nine months, and he has pointed to the control centre in relation to the Urda crash. The Madrid–Seville line has been equipped since its opening with the LZB safety system, which works alongside the ASFA system, and Puente has said the Iryo train lost its LZB protection.
Further details on the number of injured and the causes of the collision are expected as rescue operations continue.