Spain's high-speed train crash kills at least 69

At least 68 people have been killed in a collision between two high-speed trains near Urda, in the province of Toledo south of Madrid, on Wednesday, 28 October.

A Renfe AVE train carrying 397 passengers struck the rear of a private Iryo train with 147 people on board, which was stopped on the line. The impact derailed the last carriages of the Iryo train and the front of the Renfe train. Regional officials said 44 of the dead were found on the Iryo train and at least 24 on the Renfe train, though early figures differed between sources. More than 100 people were injured, some seriously.

Investigators are focusing on the instructions the Renfe train received. According to transport officials, it was cleared to continue with no speed restriction because of an erroneous order from a train controller, and it was travelling at about 200 km/h (124 mph) when it hit the stopped train. Iryo said its train was struck from behind and that the cause was still unknown.

It is the second deadly crash involving the two operators this year. In January, 46 people died in southern Spain when an Iryo train came off the track and hit an oncoming Renfe train.

Spain has begun three days of mourning as investigators work to establish how the order was given.

Update, 30 October: Spain's Transport Ministry puts the provisional death toll at 69, and regional officials say it may still rise. More than 50 people remain in hospital, 15 of them in a critical condition. Investigators are studying the trains' black boxes, a judge has opened an inquiry, and police have asked relatives to give DNA samples to help identify the dead.