The accident in the province of Toledo is the third train disaster in Spain this year.
In January, two high-speed trains collided near Adamuz, in the southern Spanish province of Córdoba, killing more than 40 people. This collision occurred after the tail of a northbound train derailed and crossed the adjacent track, where a southbound train was approaching. More than a hundred people were injured, according to authorities at the time.
This accident also killed one of the train’s drivers and led to a national strike to demand greater safety for railway professionals, amid a series of accidents across Spain.
Before that collision, Spain’s train drivers’ union, Semaf, had raised concerns about high speeds causing vibrations and subsequent wear along high-speed rail lines, a union source told CNN at the time.
The Adamuz accident is the worst accident on Spanish railways since one in Galicia in 2013, when 79 people were killed and 144 injured after a train hit a well and caught fire near the city of Santiago de Compostela.
Days after the Adamuz train disaster, a commuter train near Barcelona derailed on a day of heavy rain, killing the driver and injuring dozens of passengers.
CNN’s Pau Mosquera, Tim Lister and Sana Noor Haq contributed to this report.
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