Hours after the deadliest Spanish rail accident in years, Carlos Alcaraz posted a message of condolence from his social media accounts on Wednesday evening, writing from Vienna where he is competing at the ATP 500.
The collision happened on Wednesday morning in Toledo province in central Spain, between the towns of Urda and Los Yébenes on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line. At least 68 people have been confirmed dead, with another 58 receiving medical treatment at hospitals, according to the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha.
Alcaraz addressed the victims and their families in a short bilingual message posted on X.
“Shocked by the news of the tragic train accident in Toledo. All my love and support to the families of the victims and to all the people affected during these such difficult times. My deepest condolences. Much strength to everyone.”
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The Spanish version opened with “Conmocionado por las noticias del trágico accidente de trenes en Toledo” and went out from his accounts at 19:02 local time in Spain.
Signaling failure, then an “inexplicable” order
A Renfe AVE service carrying 397 passengers ran into the stationary rear of a private Iryo train with 147 passengers on board at 8:53am local time, knocking two cars off the track.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said a signaling-system failure around 8:30am, caused by a computer malfunction, had stopped all trains along a 63-kilometer stretch. Central command then ordered the AVE service to resume without speed restrictions despite an active “stop signal” on the line, a decision Puente called “inexplicable” as he absolved the drivers of blame. The AVE may have been travelling at up to 200 km/h on that stretch, he added.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared three days of national mourning and said it was “unacceptable for a country like Spain to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year,” a reference to the January crash in southern Spain that killed 45 people.
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A return week in Austria for the world No. 3
The Vienna Open is Alcaraz’s first tournament back on the regular tour after a wrist injury that sidelined him from mid-April to the end of August. He added the ATP 500 to his schedule at short notice and opened his campaign on Tuesday by beating Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6(5), with his next match against either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Jurij Rodionov.
Alcaraz is currently ranked No. 3 in the world. Jannik Sinner holds the top spot but is injured, and Alexander Zverev, who also won his Vienna opener on Tuesday, will overtake Sinner in next Monday’s rankings if he reaches the quarterfinals in the Austrian capital.
The three days of national mourning run across Spain from Wednesday.
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