The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced the postponement of 24 matches in the first round of the Copa del Rey “as a mark of respect and solidarity” with the victims of a high-speed train collision.
“The entire Spanish football family stands united in grief over this tragedy and stands ready to assist the authorities in helping the victims of this devastating accident,” the RFEF said in a statement published on its website on Wednesday.
“As a mark of respect and solidarity with all the victims of the tragic train accident that occurred on Wednesday morning in the province of Toledo, the RFEF has decided to suspend the 24 matches in the first round of the Copa del Rey originally scheduled for this afternoon and this evening.”
The federation added that it will “provide further details in due course regarding the revised tournament schedule and the final kick-off times for the postponed matches”.
A high-speed train collision south of Madrid killed 64 people and injured over 100 on Wednesday, with the toll likely to rise.
Some carriages were lying on their side in tangles of metal debris at the bottom of an embankment, while dozens of emergency services vehicles were racing to and from the site.
“We are speaking of approximately 64 (dead), but this is probably going to grow even more,” Castilla-La Mancha’s leader Emiliano Garcia-Page told reporters at the scene, raising a previous toll of 31.
Helicopters hovered above the site during a frantic search for survivors, while several black vans arrived from a funeral parlour.
State railway operator Renfe confirmed in a statement that the main high-speed line from Madrid to southern Spain had been suspended after one of its services suffered an accident with a train from private Spanish company Iryo.
Iryo said in a statement that its train, which was carrying 147 passengers and five staff, including the driver, “was hit from behind” by the Renfe service.
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