TOLEDO — Spain declared three days of national mourning Wednesday after two high-speed trains collided in the country’s Toledo province, killing at least 68 people and injuring more than 100, according to Reuters-via BusinessWorld, LADbible and EIB News.

The crash happened near Urda, in the province that shares Toledo’s name. A Renfe train rear-ended a stationary Iryo train — both bound from Madrid to Seville — and carriages derailed, plunging down an embankment. The Renfe train carried 397 passengers; the Iryo carried 147. Rescue crews cut through the wreckage into the night, and drones and helicopters aided the search. Many of the dead have not yet been identified, and officials say the toll is provisional.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the Renfe train had been authorized to proceed despite an active red signal issued after a computer communications failure stopped traffic. He called the decision to restart the train “inexplicable” and a breach of protocol, and said the engineers were not to blame.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez gave a televised address from near the scene, saying “all of Spain” is in mourning. He vowed to strengthen rail safety if needed. The opposition People’s Party canceled all campaign events for the day ahead of elections next month.

Rail service on the Madrid–Andalusia corridor is disrupted as the investigation continues. It is Europe’s deadliest rail crash since 2013 and Spain’s second fatal rail accident this year.

Read our earlier coverage: At Least 64 Dead in Spain Train Crash in Toledo Province.

Featured image: High-speed trains at María Zambrano station in Málaga, Spain. Photo by Alan Grant, via Wikimedia Commons.