Iryo, Renfe AVE high-speed rail collision kills dozens south of Madrid; death toll set rise

The death toll from Spain’s devastating high-speed train collision has risen to 68, with another 80 people injured, including five in a critical condition.

Emiliano García-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha regional government, confirmed the latest figures as emergency crews continue their work at the crash site, south of Madrid.

As our Europe correspondent David Crowe reported, two high-speed trains collided in central Spain on Wednesday morning (Thursday AEDT) in the province of Toledo.

The accident comes with memories still fresh of another crash between high-speed trains in southern Spain in January involving trains from the same two companies.

One train, run by the state-owned RENFE company, ran into the tail of the other train owned by private company IRYO that had stopped, knocking two of its cars off the track in a rural area between two villages.