Malaga actor recounts tragic Toledo crash as passenger on one of the two trains: 'It was a jumble of metal and people. There are many, many dead'

Still in a state of shock, he said that he had only suffered bruises. Bandera witnessed a horrible scene, which he described as a "mishmash of metal and people".

While waiting in the queue to give his details to the Guardia Civil, alongside other survivors, the star of Las cosas del querer and Bámbola recounted the sequence of events.

He was travelling from Madrid on the AVE train bound for Seville to record a gala for Canal Sur's programme La Gran Audición.

"About half an hour after setting off, the train stopped and, five minutes later, the driver explained that we had come to a halt due to 'traffic on the track' and that we would be setting off again in a minute. They must have given us the all-clear, but there was still a train on the track, the Iryo, which we crashed into from behind. It was horrific," he said, his voice trembling.

The position of the carriage in which Bandera was travelling, at the rear of the train, cushioned the impact of the violent collision between the two trains. "The crash caught me while I was sitting down. I've got a bruise on my ribs, but it's nothing compared to what I saw. I've been given a new lease of life. I've now got two birthdays to celebrate," he said of this 28 October, which he will never forget.

"Once we'd checked that everyone in my carriage was all right, we smashed a window and got out," Bandera said. His first reaction was to head straight to the scene of the collision to help the injured.

"I helped a lad who was struggling to breathe and looking a bit rough. I left him sitting there, waiting for the paramedics to arrive, and I tried to get back, but I had to turn around because it was all a jumble of twisted metal and people. I don't even want to think about it, but there were many, many dead," he said, unable to hide his distress at the scenes he had witnessed.

"The impact was staggering, because there was an Iryo carriage, which must have been at the front one, that had been hurled about 100 metres from the point of impact. I'm not exaggerating," he explained.

"I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone. It's horrific that it has happened again!" Manuel Bandera said, recalling the tragedy near Adamuz, in which 46 people lost their lives in January.

According to provisional reports, the train crash this Wednesday already matches this victim count.

For this reason, Bandera is grateful to be alive. The actor said he is looking forward to returning to the stage. "I'm going to celebrate it more than ever this year," he stated.

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