Summary
At least 68 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid
The updated death toll makes this crash the country's worst rail disaster since 2013
Spain's transport minister says an "inexplicable" decision by the control centre led to the collision after a computer failure initially caused trains to halt
The rail operator Iryo says its train was "struck from behind" by a Renfe train. More than 500 passengers were travelling on the two trains
Speaking at the crash site, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says Spain is "grieving" - most major parties have suspended general election campaigning
Sánchez also vows to find out "why this tragedy occurred" - here's what we know so far about the cause
Witnesses have described "terrible" scenes, while Roberto Gómez, a Spanish journalist travelling on one of the trains, says it was "extremely chaotic and very distressing"
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Live Reporting
Edited by Craig Hoyle and Europe digital editor Paul Kirby, with teams reporting from Spain
Here's how the fatal collision unfoldedpublished at 19:14 GMT
'We were all thrown into the air,' recounts wounded passengerpublished at 19:02 GMT
19:02 GMTRafael Barceló was travelling in the high-speed AVE train that crashed.
He says he was in the cafeteria car and that may have saved him and a friend from suffering the worst of the impact.
“We were having breakfast, having a coffee and we felt a huge impact, we were all thrown into the air," he tells Reuters, with a visible wound on his forehead.
"I am reasonably OK, my friend is quite worse.”
Their seats were in car number seven, "which is the one with more victims and the one most destroyed," Barceló says.
"I at least counted eight victims in that coach."
More than 500 rescue personnel working at train crash sitepublished at 18:46 GMT
18:46 GMTAs we've just reported, rescue personnel are working into the night at the scene of the crash near Spain's capital of Madrid.
In its most recent update on social media, Spain's interior ministry says there are 102 people from Spain General Secretariat for Civil Protection and Emergencies are on site.
A further 422 personnel from the Guardia Civil are also assisting, along with three helicopters, and drones and dogs.
Spanish police 'interviewing staff from rail control centre'published at 18:34 GMT
18:34 GMTNick Beake
Europe correspondentThe most significant information today has come from the Spanish transport minister who said that from his perspective - looking at the information available so far - this incident was due to human error.
He described a situation just before 09:00 local time this morning, where there had been a computer failure which had led to at least six services in the area being halted.
But then a decision was made to give the go-ahead to one of these high-speed trains to continue its journey, which led to the crash.
Spain's transport minister said this decision was "inexplicable" and there was no clear rationale why it was made.
One development that's being reported in the Spanish media is that the Guardia Civil have apparently been interviewing everyone who was in the main control centre in Atocha, in Madrid, at the time this decision was made to tell the high-speed train to continue its journey.
Passengers visibly angry as questions mount over crash causepublished at 18:22 GMT
18:22 GMTThe train that was hit from behind was still stationary when the order was given to the other train to proceed.
According to regulations, under such circumstances, a train driver would be required to proceed at what is known as "sight speed" - about 40km/h (25mph), a speed that allows them to stop in time if they encounter an obstacle.
Officials will investigate what order the Renfe train got, if it was travelling at the usual speed for that section of track - "around 200km/h" according to the minister, and, more significantly, why did the operator not stop its journey when his screen would have displayed that another train on the same line was stationary.
Affected passengers were visibly angry.
"It isn't possible that our train was stopped for five or 10 minutes and that the other train wasn't told to stop," one of them said.
"How can this happen with the technology we have?"
Latest pictures from the scene, as emergency efforts continuepublished at 18:10 GMT
18:10 GMTThe latest images from the crash site show a continued effort by emergency workers to clear up the wreckage.
Lights have been deployed as dusk falls, while a large crane is also at the scene.
Earlier, local authorities confirmed that the bodies of 68 victims had been recovered from the crash site.
Spanish authorities using DNA to locate victims' familiespublished at 17:55 GMT
17:55 GMTSpain's Civil Guard says its "top priority" is to identify relatives of the train crash victims using DNA samples.
Four offices for relatives have been set up in Madrid and other parts of Spain, according to the force.
So far, Spanish authorities have confirmed 68 people died in the crash, with dozens more seriously injured.
Panic and shock at centre for the injured in rural Spainpublished at 17:38 GMT
17:38 GMTIsabel Núñez is a local councillor in Urda, close to the crash site, who has been helping receive injured people at the town's sports hall.
She tells BBC Mundo that people with minor injuries, such as cuts or bruises, have been picked up by family members or transported back to where they live by bus.
Some people were "very dazed" and "were completely in shock" when they arrived, Isabel says, adding "many didn't even know which carriage they had been travelling in".
She goes on: "Urda’s two local police officers were among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident.
"This morning we have seen everything. A man arrived on a motorbike, completely disoriented, looking for his wife, who had been on the train. He was desperate.
"We also helped a man with a head wound who had left his carriage to stretch his legs and was saved because of that.
"His carriage was the one that caught fire and where most of the victims were. He was relieved and grateful to be alive, but deeply saddened by the whole situation."
European leaders share condolences and offers of supportpublished at 17:23 GMT
17:23 GMTEuropean leaders have shared their condolences and willingness to support Spain following the train collision.
- European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen says her "heart goes out to the victims' families and loved ones. Today, Europe mourns with you"
- French President Emmanuel Macron says "our thoughts are with the victims, their families, to the many injured as well as to all the teams mobilise in the rescue operations"
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says her "thoughts and those of the government go out to the loved ones of the victims, the injured and all those working tirelessly in the rescue operations"
- UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has paid tribute when speaking to the House of Commons: "I have been in touch with Prime Minister Sanchez to relay our condolences and offer any support that we can"
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also given Ukraine's "condolences to everyone who lost loved ones"
In Madrid hundreds are queueing to donate bloodpublished at 17:09 GMT
17:09 GMTElizabeth Conway
BBC Sport Spanish football reporter in MadridI've just stepped outside in Madrid to find a queue of more than 100 people waiting to donate blood in the city centre.
The donation van is usually parked on Gran Vía, Madrid’s main shopping street, where there are normally only a handful of people waiting. I’ve never seen a queue anything like this before.
In coffee shops today, the train crash was all anyone seemed to be talking about.
There’s a real sense of shock and heartbreak across the city, with people sharing news and information about what’s happened on social media.
Due to the volume of donations, Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso is asking others to "wait until tomorrow and the following days, when it will still be just as necessary".
What we know so far about the cause of this crashpublished at 17:02 GMT
17:02 GMTSpanish PM Pedro Sánchez says the government is working "to clarify what happened, why this tragedy occurred". Here's what we know so far:
- A Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid, seemingly while one was stationary
- Transport Minister Óscar Puente says a computer failure led to the initial halting of six moving trains, including the two trains that subsequently collided
- "In the event of a system failure, the control centre takes over," Puente says
- However, for "inexplicable" reasons, the control centre decided to allow the high-speed train to move again, without any speed restrictions, before it hit the second train
- Sánchez references a deadly rail crash that killed 46 on the same line earlier this year, and says: "At the moment it looks like the causes behind both crashes have nothing in common"
- An investigation is under way
Questions for government after second deadly rail crash this yearpublished at 16:39 GMT
16:39 GMTGuy Hedgecoe
Reporting from UrdaThis tragedy comes just nine months after 46 people died in a rail collision on the same Madrid-Seville line.
That accident unleashed an intense debate about the safety of Spain's high-speed rail system, the largest in Europe and until recently the envy of many neighbouring countries.
It also piled pressure on the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez, as many Spaniards wondered if his administration had under-invested in the rail system.
This latest crash will intensify the doubts about the rail system's safety and criticism of the government's management of it.
In particular, Transport Minister Óscar Puente, is likely to come under fire.
The leader of the main opposition People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who hopes to unseat Sánchez in next month's general election, has said today that Spaniards "have a right to a complete and independent review of the entire rail network".
Railway union says strike will go ahead on Thursdaypublished at 16:27 GMT
16:27 GMTThe Spanish Union of Railway Drivers (Semaf) is going ahead with a strike it had scheduled for Thursday, according to a post on the group's Telegram account.
The union says the strike - which it called before the Urda crash - will be held "in defence of railway safety".
In the same post, the Union writes that it is "deeply shaken" by the incident this morning and extends condolences to the victims.
Minute's silence for victims to take place in Toledopublished at 16:18 GMT
16:18 GMTPresident of Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, says there will be a minute's silence for the victims later today.
There will be a vigil at Toledo City Hall at 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
Recap: Spain suffers one of worst rail disasters in modern European historypublished at 16:08 GMT
16:08 GMTAt least 68 people have been killed after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid, with dozens more seriously injured.
Speaking from the crash site, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says "the whole of Spain is grieving", adding: "Lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, the pain is immense."
Passenger Eduarda was travelling with her two cats and told Hoy por Hoy, a Spanish radio programme, that after the collision she heard screams and saw a carriage on fire, with people under the train who had died.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente says a computer failure led to the initial halt of six moving trains, including the two trains that subsequently collided.
"In the event of a system failure, the control centre takes over," Puente says, adding it was the control centre which decided to allow the trains to move again, without any speed restrictions.
That decision, Puente said, was made "under inexplicable circumstances", and resulted in the collision.
An investigation is under way, dozens are being treated in hospital and three days of mourning have been announced by the prime minister.
Nearly 80 people in hospital and 15 seriously injuredpublished at 15:54 GMT
15:54 GMTMore now on the emerging details about those injured in today's crash.
Emergency services say 77 people are in hospital, while Spain's Minister of Health Mónica García says 15 are "seriously injured".
In a post on X, she says "all hospitals have activated their contingency plans, reinforcing emergency services and operating rooms and reorganising care activities".
Sánchez announces three days of mourningpublished at 15:35 GMT
15:35 GMTSánchez also says any "failures in the security system" will be addressed.
Referencing a deadly rail crash which killed 46 in Spain on the same line earlier this year, he says: "At the moment it looks like the causes behind both crashes have nothing in common, but it's not up to me but to the investigation to establish that.
"We will need to do everything in our power to restore public confidence in our high-speed railway network. It is unacceptable for a country like Spain to experience two high-speed rail accidents in the same year."
He also announces three days of mourning beginning tomorrow.
Sánchez: If there has been any negligence, it will come to lightpublished at 15:34 GMT
15:34 GMTMore now from Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez, who has been speaking near the crash site.
He says: "Today Spain is grieving, the whole of Spain is grieving, and we express all our solidarity and empathy with the relatives of the victims and the injured who are still in hospital, and whom we wish a speedy recovery.
"Behind each victims is... a destroyed family, pain, and anguish... which the people of Spain share."
He says the first priority of the government is to "offer support to the injured and victims and relatives of this terrible tragedy".
The second objective, he goes on, is "to clarify what happened, why this tragedy occurred".
He adds: "The ministers of transport and interior are trying to determine what was the origin of this tragedy, of this terrible accident... and we will get to the bottom of this, and if there has been any negligence, it will come to light."
Spain is grieving, says prime ministerpublished at 15:10 GMT
15:10 GMTPrime Minister Pedro Sánchez has visited the emergency centre set up near the crash site.
“Today the whole of Spain is grieving," he says.
"Lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart, the pain is immense."
We'll have more of his comments shortly.
Sixty-eight people now confirmed to have diedpublished at 15:09 GMT
15:09 GMTBreakingThe death toll has now risen to 68, local president Emiliano García-Page tells Spanish media.
As reported earlier, dozens are still being treated for serious injuries.