A high-speed Renfe train collided with a stationary Iryo train on the same track near Urda in central Spain on Wednesday morning, killing 69 people and injuring more than 100. The crash caused carriages to derail, and authorities said the death toll could still rise as families search for missing relatives in hospitals across the region.
Among those killed were Julieta Gallego, a 24-year-old long jumper who competed regularly in Spanish club championships, and Fátima Báñez, a 59-year-old former employment minister who served in the government from 2011 to 2018 under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Báñez was the first woman to hold the employment minister role. She chaired the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations at the time of her death.
The crash is the second rail disaster in Spain this year and the worst in the country since 2013. Bodies of victims have been taken to the main forensics institute in Toledo, where families are providing DNA samples to help with identification.