At least 30 killed in train collision on high-speed line in Spain
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At least 30 people were killed after two trains collided on Spain’s Madrid-Seville high-speed line, and the death toll is expected to rise, a spokesperson for the Castilla-La Mancha region told ABC News.
The collision occurred at around 8:30 a.m. local time at kilometer marker 118 near Urda and involved a Renfe train and an Iryo train, both traveling from Madrid to Seville, the Spain’s Transport Ministry told ABC News.
As part of the preliminary investigation, authorities said the Renfe train probably struck the Iryo train from behind, causing two coaches to derail.
The Iryo train was carrying 146 passengers, including one baby, while the Renfe train had 397 passengers, according to the Transport Ministry.
In a statement, Iryo said its service 6076, traveling from Madrid to Seville, was involved in the accident near Urda. The company said it had activated all emergency protocols and was working closely with authorities to manage the situation.
As a result of the crash, all Iryo services departing from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha and traveling along the Southern Corridor have been canceled. The company said it had no estimate for when service would resume.
Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia said the government was mobilizing resources and coordinating with relevant institutions to respond to the crash.
“We are mobilizing all the resources at our disposal and coordinating with all the relevant institutions,” Garcia said. “I’m working with the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha to provide any resources it may need. My full support and gratitude go to the emergency personnel dispatched to the area.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A display indicates the temperature of 41 degrees Celsius during a sweltering summer day on June 27, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Maryam Majd/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — One of the most brutal heat waves to impact Europe in the last 50 years broke temperature records in multiple countries, according to Copernicus, Europe’s climate change service.
Western Europe, the region most affected by the heat wave during the second half of June, experienced its warmest June on record, the agency said.
The average land temperature in Europe in June 2026 was the second-highest on record, at 19.14 degrees Celsius, or 66.45 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Copernicus. This marks 1.78 degrees Celsius, or 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit, above the 1991 to 2020 average for the month.
Rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures “reflect a climate system continuing to accumulate heat” — resulting in increasingly intense heatwaves, a persistently warm ocean and growing risks for people and ecosystems, Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said in a statement.
“June 2026 underscored how profoundly the climate is changing,” Burgess said. “Western Europe recorded its warmest June on record, and continued record warmth in the global ocean.”
Many June and some all-time records for daily maximum temperature were broken in several countries, according to Copernicus.
Weather officials in the United Kingdom said temperatures on June 24 rose in some areas to 35.7 degrees Celsius, or about 96.2 degrees Fahrenheit, topping a June 1976 record of 35.6 C.
In France, the country’s national heat index — a daily average — hit 30 degrees Celsius, or about 86 degrees Fahrenheit, on June 24 — the highest-ever temperature recorded, according to weather officials at Meteo-France, the national weather service. High temperatures in Paris were in the triple digits in the days after.
The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower closed early several days in a row as a result of the high temperatures.
The high temperatures also impacted cities like Madrid and Rome, which hit the high 90s during the last week of June.
Reuters reported there were more than 5,000 excess deaths in Germany alone — mostly residents 75 and older — and another 4,700 deaths in France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands between June 20 and 28.
“Heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’ – and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an X post.
Overall, the planet experienced its second-warmest June globally, according to Copernicus.
In addition, much of Western Europe, including Italy, large parts of central and eastern Europe and the southern U.K., experienced drier-than-average conditions, associated with persistent high-pressure and heatwave conditions, according to Copernicus.
River flow was also below average across Europe, consistent with the widespread dry conditions, according to Copernicus. Large parts of France, much of central and eastern Europe and parts of northeastern Europe were especially impacted.
Globally, June 2026 was the second-warmest on record, with an average surface air temperature of 16.5 degrees Celsius, about 61.8 degrees Fahrenheit — about .56 degrees Celsius, or about 1 degree Fahrenheit — above the June average for 1991 to 2020.
Sea surface temperature at extrapolar oceans, or oceans outside the Arctic and Antarctic, was the highest on record for June at 20.86 degrees Celsius, or 69.5 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Copernicus.
Surface sea temperatures also remain “exceptionally high” across a large portion of the tropical Pacific, where El Nino conditions are present and forecast to strengthen in the coming months, the agency said.
The U.S. issued a formal diplomatic complaint known as a démarche over the Russian government’s response to the reported death of a lab worker from an anti-plague institute in Siberia, urging the country to increase transparency surrounding the incident, ABC News has learned.
“We have officially requested additional information from the Russian government. We are also in official communication with other countries around the world to share information,” a State Department spokesperson said.
A U.S. official said early Wednesday that the démarche was transmitted to representatives of the Russian government within the last few hours. The démarche itself is classified, but the official said it reminds Moscow of its requirements to comply with international health regulations.
The action came ahead of what President Donald Trump said was a scheduled call between him and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Trump on Tuesday told reporters at the White House that the call had been scheduled and would happen “very soon,” adding that it would be “probably tomorrow.”
Trump said their conversation was expected to touch on the heightened scrutiny of Russia’s response after some Russian media and public figures reported a death potentially connected to the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute.
Russian authorities have said only that that the case of the lab worker’s reported death was “pneumonia of an unknown cause,” with the health agency Rospotrebnadzor saying tests showed no link with her work. They issued a statement saying that “no accidents have been detected at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute while working with pathogenic microorganisms.”
Rospotrebnadzor’s office for the Irkutsk region issued on Tuesday a statement, saying, “A false message is being circulated online about the introduction of an enhanced sanitary and epidemiological regime and strict restrictions in the Irkutsk region.”
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said in a Tuesday health alert that it was aware of the press reports, saying, “We continue to track the situation closely.” The State Department reminded Americans not to travel to Russia, saying the U.S. government has limited ability to help its citizens who go there. Additional restrictions may be in place for some regions, the embassy said.
Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that official information would come directly from Rospotrebnadzor, adding, “the media are reporting a great deal right now, and the overwhelming majority of what the media are reporting around this situation is false information.”
As Russian officials came under scrutiny, U.S. officials offered to provide assistance. Trump said the U.S. was willing to help Russia after the U.S. State Department announced it was monitoring the reportedly fatal case of “pneumonia of an unknown etiology.”
“Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we’re always willing to help,” Trump told reporters Monday.
Asked about how the U.S. is planning to mitigate the risk coming from Russia, Trump said that his administration is “looking at it very strongly.”
Russia said it would welcome help from the United States, but also sought to downplay concern.
“It is always very good when mutual assistance is offered,” Peskov told journalists on Monday. Peskov then appeared to downplay Trump’s suggestion the issue was a “major problem for Russia,” telling a journalist he had not heard that framing.
“To be honest, I did not hear the president’s words that he considers this a major problem for Russia,” Peskov said. “As far as I remember it was not said that way, although I may be mistaken.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asked Tuesday in Iceland by ABC News whether he had reason to believe there has been an accidental release of an intentionally modified strain of the plague, said it would “irresponsible for me here to sit and speculate because we just don’t have all the information yet.”
“I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world. That’s what they should do,” the secretary said.
Rubio said his department was tracking the situation “hour by hour.”
General view of a demolished building at Caraballeda after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 27, 2026, in La Guaira, Venezuela.(Photo by Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images)
(VENEZUELA) — The death toll in Venezuela has climbed to at least 3,685 in the wake of the two powerful earthquakes that devastated the country, Venezuelan lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said.
The pair of earthquakes struck on June 24, knocking down buildings, sending residents fleeing for safety and trapping some survivors under the rubble for days. Thousands were injured and more than 26,000 people were impacted, including those who lost homes or saw serious damage to their homes, officials said.
Nine Americans are among the dead, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Fox News on Tuesday.
John Barrett, Chargé d’Affaires of the American embassy in Caracas, said Tuesday that the U.S. was “assisting the Venezuelans in terms of storing and caring for the deceased remains that are being pulled out of the rubble.”
“The government reports that they have accounted and identified the vast majority of bodies received, but they’re continuing to go through that process, and as I understand it, are collecting DNA fingerprints, dental records from those bodies that they’re in the process of still waiting to identify in coordination with family members,” he said.
Barrett said the four U.S. urban search and rescue teams sent to Venezuela have “completed their mission and returned home.”
“We are deeply grateful for their service. These highly skilled men and women helped save six lives and brought hope to countless families during Venezuela’s darkest hours,” he said. “The Department of State Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) remains on the ground, working alongside partners to deliver food, water, medical care, shelter, and other critical assistance to affected communities.”
Click here for information on how to help the victims.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.
