Two high-speed trains have crashed into each other in central Spain, killing at least 68 people and injuring around 80 more.
One of the trains was reportedly travelling at up to 200km/h when it collided with a stationary train.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has declared three days of mourning.
Here’s what you need to know.
Incident
Train One: Operated by state-owned company Renfe, carrying 397 passengers.
Travelling south from Madrid to Seville at up to 200km/h.
Train Two: Operated by private company Iryo, carrying 147 passengers.
Also travelling south from Madrid to Seville, but stopped on the track due to a computer failure, according to Transport Minister Óscar Puente.
Train One collided with Train Two as it was stopped on the track.
At a press conference, Puente said the computer failure affected six trains in total.
The “control centre” then took over, and according to Puente, directed Train One to restart.
That train “should have stopped,” Puente said, as its “velocity could not have been regulated”.
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However, it crashed into Train Two.
Puente added the decision to restart was made “under inexplicable circumstances”.
Other crashes
This accident was the second deadly high-speed train collision in Spain this year.
In January, 46 people died and dozens were injured when two trains collided in southern Spain.
The two trains were also operated by Iryo and Renfe.
The last three carriages of the Iryo train derailed, colliding with an oncoming Renfe train.
At the time, it was Spain’s worst rail accident in a decade.
Responses
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said: “Spain is in mourning... We are working to clarify the origin of this tragedy.”
He has declared a three-day mourning period.
At this stage, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is not aware of any impacted Australians, but is in contact with Spanish authorities.
“Our heartfelt condolences are with the families and loved ones of those killed, and with those injured and all affected by the train collision in Spain,” a DFAT spokesperson said.
