Two trains crashed in Spain just south of Madrid on Wednesday morning, because apparently the universe looked at Spain's rail network and said, "You know what? Let's do that again." At least 68 people are confirmed dead after a Renfe train and an Iryo train - the latter covering the Madrid to Seville route - collided between the municipalities of Mora and Orgaz, about 140km (100 miles) south of Madrid, just after 09:00 local time (08:00 GMT).

Here's the mechanical poetry of it: a high-speed train traveling from Madrid to the south of the country barreled into another train that was apparently stationary. The crash caused at least two carriages to fall down an embankment. Broadcaster RTVE, quoting the transport ministry, said a Renfe train rear-ended an Iryo train. Renfe is Spain's national state-owned railway company; Iryo is a private high-speed operator. One is state-owned, one is private, and both apparently share the same inability to not occupy the same space at the same time.

All train traffic on the line has been stopped at stations along the route, Adif said. Renfe said services between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia remain suspended. A passenger on board one of the trains told local media there was a heavy impact about 40 minutes into the journey. Iryo said its train was "struck from behind" by a Renfe train "due to causes that are still unknown." That's one way to put it.

Transport minister Oscar Puente has said a computer failure led to the initial halt of six moving trains, including the two that subsequently collided. "In the event of a system failure, the control centre takes over," he said, 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." Inexplicable circumstances is a phrase that will surely comfort the families. Audio recordings between train controllers in Madrid and the train drivers appear to show that one high-speed train was given clearance to move even though another up ahead had stalled - a detail that suggests the system was less "high-speed rail" and more "high-speed guesswork."

More than 500 people were on board both trains. Esther Padilla, spokesperson for the government of the Castilla-La Mancha region, told TVE that the Iryo-managed train was carrying 146 passengers plus one baby, while the Renfe-managed train had 397 passengers on board. A former government minister was among those reported missing. The Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) posted on X that Fátima Báñez - who heads the organization's foundation - was on board one of the trains involved in the crash. Eighty people are being treated for injuries, according to Spanish authorities, with 50 said to be in serious condition and 15 more in critical condition.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said "the whole of Spain is grieving" and that "lives have been shattered, families have been torn apart." "The pain is immense," he said on a visit to the crash site. The government was "trying to determine what was the origin of this tragedy, of this terrible accident," he added. "We will get to the bottom of this, and if there has been any negligence, it will come to light. If there have been failures in the security system, they will be addressed with the utmost firmness." Sánchez and other Spanish politicians have cancelled all public engagements on Wednesday, including campaigning for next month's parliamentary elections. Three days of official mourning began on Thursday.

Spain's royal family posted on X that it was "shocked and concerned" and expressed condolences for the relatives of the deceased and those affected by the crash. A spokesperson for the EU said the bloc was ready to help Spain if needed. A huge emergency response was under way with fire crews and helicopters at the scene. Hospitals in the area have suspended planned surgeries as they deal with an influx of patients, Spanish media reported. A blood transfusion centre in Madrid appealed for "urgent" donations, posting on X that it made the request "in the face of a possible sudden increase in care needs." Facilities in Toledo, Ciudad Real and Alcázar de San Juan have cancelled procedures as casualties begin to arrive. The Spanish Civil Guard has set up bureaus in Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Córdoba to investigate reports of missing persons. "The top priority is the identification of the missing persons and the taking of DNA samples to be able to locate their relatives," the civil guard wrote on X.

This is the second high-speed rail tragedy in Spain this year. In January a high-speed train derailed in southern Spain, its rear carriages going into the path of a state-run Renfe train, claiming the lives of 46 people. Two high-speed disasters in under a year is not a track record - it's a pattern, and not the kind anyone wants to be known for.