At least 2 Canadians hurt, 5 ‘affected’ in high-speed rail crash in Spain

OTTAWA — At least two Canadians were injured in a high-speed rail crash Wednesday in Spain, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said later in a social media post that to her department’s knowledge “five Canadians are affected.” She provided no details.

Carney expressed Canada’s solidarity with victims and family members and indicated Ottawa would help as needed.

Spain experienced its second deadly high-speed rail accident this year when one train slammed into another that had stopped on the tracks. The impact shredded cars and killed at least 64 people.

The regional government for Castilla La Mancha confirmed the death toll and said another 58 people needed medical treatment in hospital.

Rescue workers continued to search the wreckage for survivors and bodies Wednesday. The accident occurred just before 9 a.m. local time.

“At least two Canadians were hurt in this tragedy,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa. “Our thoughts are with their families, the victims and their loved ones, in the days and weeks ahead.”

Anand said Global Affairs Canada’s consular officials were in close contact with Spanish authorities “to ensure that we have the most current information and that all Canadians affected receive the assistance they need.”

The accident comes with memories still fresh of another crash between high-speed trains in southern Spain in January.

Spain’s rail system operator ADIF said the latest crash occurred Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo. It involved two high-speed trains carrying hundreds of passengers and heading in the same direction from the capital Madrid to Seville in southwestern Spain.

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.

David Gómez, a construction worker, was working with his brother and another colleague nearby when they heard the crash and ran to help, he told the newspaper El País.

“People were trying to get out through the windows … We cut through some fences to access the area and treated people with the first aid kits we had brought” until emergency services arrived, he said.

Rail service was suspended between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia.

Until this year, there had been no fatal crash on Spain’s dedicated high-speed lines since the network opened in 1992. It was a source of national pride.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press