30 killed in Spain when two high-speed trains collide

At least 30 people were killed ‌when two high-speed trains collided in Spain on Wednesday, the second deadly accident in less than a year on the line connecting Madrid to the ​southern Andalusia region, regional authorities said.
Footage from regional Castilla-La ​Mancha Television showed a derailed train with at least one ⁠carriage remaining on an elevated section of track while twisted ​metal, broken panels and wreckage could be seen strewn across an ​embankment beneath the line.

Miguel, a passenger travelling with several colleagues in the rear car of one of the trains, described to COPE radio the moment of ​the accident.

"We heard a massive roar, a truly enormous thud that ​went on for 10 seconds, as if the train were about to derail. ‌Through ⁠the right-hand window, we could see a wrecked train – I imagine it must have been the other one," he said.

Castilla-la Mancha regional government said the death toll had risen to 30 from 10 ​after earlier warning ​it could rise.

The ⁠collision comes nine months after an accident between high-speed trains belonging to the same operators on the ​same line that killed 46 people.

That crash in January, ​which ⁠occurred after a train derailed and smashed into an oncoming train near Adamuz, in Cordoba province, triggered a debate about the level of ⁠investment in ​railway maintenance in recent years.