Spanish rescue workers search for any survivors in high-speed rail crash, with 69 dead

Spain's second high-speed rail disaster this year, in which one train struck another from behind, killing 69 people, has raised fresh concerns about the safety of the country's rail network ahead of a national election.

Search teams with sniffer dogs continued to look for victims on Thursday morning, a day after the collision in central Spain. Cranes helped shift the carriages as police and soldiers helped pick through the wreckage strewn down the gravel slope where at least three train carriages were tossed by the impact.

Officials have said the death toll was provisional. One more body was found overnight, taking the death toll to 69, according to the regional leader of Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page.

García-Page said that a crane would lift a damaged carriage that had flipped over. He added that 50 people remained hospitalized. "Besides bodies, there are body parts that need to be identified," García-Page said.

Spain's government declared three days of mourning starting Thursday.

Relatives of passengers are seen near a religious residence converted into a temporary medical facility in Toledo, Spain after the deadly train collision. (Andrea Comas/The Associated Press)

Relatives and friends flooded social media with desperate appeals for information on the whereabouts of their loved ones, posting photos or describing their physical appearance and clothing when they boarded the trains bound for Seville.

Cesar Vicente, an actor, was among those who spent the night at a religious centre converted into a base for those affected by the disaster. He travelled 495 kilometres from his native Seville to Toledo in search of his father, also named Cesar.

"I don't want this to happen to anyone. This is unbearable," said