At least 64 reported dead in high-speed train collision in Spain, authorities say

A high-speed train reportedly slammed into the rear of another train that had stopped in central Spain, derailing two cars and killing at least 64 people Wednesday morning, according to local authorities.

The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha told the Reuters news agency the death toll had risen to 64. Earlier in the day, 80 people were reported injured.

The crash occurred Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo, according to Spain's rail system operator ADIF. Rail service was suspended between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia.

Padilla told state broadcaster TVE that the accident was between two high-speed trains heading in the same direction from Madrid to Seville and that one ran into the tail of the other while it was stopped, knocking two of its cars off the track. She said the cause of the crash was not known.

The accident involved a train from Spain's state-owned RENFE company and the private rail company IRYO. Trains from those two companies were also involved in a deadly crash in January.

Padilla said 397 passengers were in the RENFE train and 147 passengers were in the IRYO train.

The mayor of the nearby town of Urda, Manuel Galán, told Spanish state broadcaster TVE that passengers had been injured and that civil protection authorities had asked his town hall to prepare a sports pavilion to attend to passengers.

The regional president of Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, wrote on X that he was on his way to the crash site.

In January, 45 people died in southern Spain when a train jumped the track and hit an oncoming train. The crash was the deadliest in Spain since a 2013 crash that killed 80 people. The January incident shook the confidence the European country has in its extensive high-speed rail network.