Spanish long jumper Julieta Gallego among victims of deadly train collision

The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation expressed its condolences following the death of 24-year-old long jumper Julieta Gallego, who was among the victims of the train collision in Spain’s Toledo province that killed at least 68 people.

“The Spanish athletics family joins in the grief over the passing of Julieta Gallego, athlete of AD Sprint, in the train accident that occurred in Urda (Toledo),” the federation (RFEA) said in a statement on Thursday on X, offering its support to her family, friends and club teammates.

Gallego competed for Madrid-based AD Sprint and was a regular participant in Spain’s club championships. Her long jump personal best was 5.90 metres (19.4 feet), set in Antequera in 2023.

“There are blows that strike at the very heart of the athletics family. Today, the sport mourns the passing of Julieta, a life ahead of her that has been unjustly extinguished,” RFEA president Raul Chapado told Spanish newspaper ABC.

Two high-speed trains collided on Wednesday in the second deadly accident in less than a year on the line connecting Madrid to southern Andalusia.

At least 68 people were killed in the crash and about 80 were injured, 50 of them seriously and 15 critically, said Emiliano Garcia-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha regional government.

The most seriously injured people were taken to hospitals in the region and in Madrid, the capital. Others were assessed at a sports hall near the crash site, where emergency teams sorted them by the severity of their injuries before sending them home or to hospital.

Survivors treated near the scene had head wounds, facial swelling and bloodied clothing, and many were dazed, according to local media reports.