High-Speed Train Crash in Spain Kills at Least 39
At least 39 dead after a high-speed train crash in southern Spain, leaving dozens injured in the country’s worst rail disaster in over a decade.
Spanish Civil Guard officials have reported that at least 39 people have died and dozens were injured in a train crash in southern Spain, the country's deadliest rail accident in more than a decade.
A train bound for Madrid derailed and veered onto another track, colliding head-on with an oncoming train in Adamuz on Sunday evening.
The rail network said that both trains were carrying 400 passengers and crew members. Emergency services treated 122 people, 48 of whom, including five children, remain hospitalized. Eleven adults and one child are in intensive care.
Spain's Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, said the death toll was "not yet final" as authorities launched an investigation.
Puente described the incident as "extremely unusual." He told reporters in Madrid that all the railway experts consulted by the government were "very surprised by this accident."
The rail network operator, Adif, said the collision occurred at 7:45 p.m. local time (6:45 p.m. GMT), about an hour after the train departed Málaga heading north to Madrid, when it derailed on a straight section of track near the city of Córdoba.
Puente said the force of the collision sent carriages of the second train into an embankment. He added that most of the dead and injured were in the front carriages of the second train, which was traveling south from Madrid to Huelva.
A spokesperson for the Italian rail company Ferrovie dello Stato told that the train involved in the accident was a Frecciarossa 1000 type, which can reach a top speed of 400 km/h (250 mph).
Rescue teams said the twisted wreckage of the trains made it difficult to extract people trapped inside the carriages. Cordoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE: "We had to remove a deceased person to get to a living person. It's hard, difficult work."
Salvador Jimenez, an RTVE journalist who was on one of the trains, said the impact of the collision felt like an "earthquake."
"I was in the first carriage. For a moment it felt like an earthquake and the train actually derailed," Jimenez said.
Footage from the scene shows several carriages of the train lying on their sides. Rescuers can be seen climbing onto the train to pull people out through the twisted doors and windows.
Jose, a passenger traveling to Madrid, told public broadcaster Canal Sur: "There were people and screams, people calling for doctors."
All rail services between Madrid and Andalusia were suspended after the accident and are expected to remain closed throughout Monday.
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Iryo, a private rail company that operates the service from Malaga, said the train that initially derailed had approximately 300 passengers on board, while the other train – operated by the state-owned company Renfe – had around 100 passengers.
The official cause of the accident is not yet known. According to the transport minister, the investigation will take at least a month to determine what happened.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the country would endure a "night of profound pain."
Rafael Moreno, the mayor of Adamuz, who was among the first to arrive at the scene, described it as "a nightmare."
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia said they were following the news of the disaster with "great concern." The Royal Palace said on X (formerly Twitter), "We express our deepest condolences to the relatives and loved ones of those who died, and we send our love and best wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured."
The Andalusian regional emergency agency urged survivors of the accident to contact their families or post on social media to let them know they were alive.
Advanced medical posts were set up to treat and transport the affected passengers to hospitals. Adif said it had set up areas for victims' relatives at Atocha, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, and Huelva stations.
The Spanish Red Cross deployed emergency assistance services at the scene and is also providing counseling to affected families in the area.
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of the Red Cross : "Families are going through a lot of anxiety due to the lack of information. These are very difficult moments."
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have issued statements expressing their condolences.
Macron wrote on social media, "My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all the people of Spain. France stands with you."
In 2013, Spain experienced its deadliest high-speed train accident in Galicia, northwestern Spain, which killed 80 people and injured 140 others.
Spain's high-speed rail network is the second largest in the world after China, connecting more than 50 cities across the country. According to Adif data, the Spanish rail network spans over 4,000 km (2,485 miles).
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