Spain High-Speed Train Collision Death Toll Rises to 69 as King Felipe Visits Hospital Treating the Injured

Spain is mourning 69 people killed in a high-speed train collision near Toledo. King Felipe VI has travelled to a hospital in Toledo treating survivors of the disaster.

The collision occurred on Wednesday morning in central Spain, when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Renfe struck the rear of a stationary Iryo service. At least three carriages were thrown down a gravel embankment by the impact.

One more body was recovered overnight, bringing the death toll to 69, according to Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page, who said 50 people remained in hospital.

Rescue teams continued searching the wreckage with sniffer dogs, as cranes lifted damaged carriages and emergency workers combed through debris scattered down the embankment.

The monarch was greeted by hospital staff and other people waiting outside the Toledo hospital treating the injured before entering the building.

Opposition People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo visited the scene of the crash.

The government declared three days of national mourning from Thursday, and a minute of silence was held for the victims.

The crash is the country's second deadly high-speed rail disaster this year, and it has raised fresh questions about railway safety. In January, 46 people were killed in another collision involving Renfe and Iryo trains on the same line.

The latest crash came just four weeks before a national election and has disrupted rail travel, with the high-speed route between Madrid and Seville closed and thousands of passengers seeking alternative transport.