High-speed train derailment kills at least 21 people in Spain

A high-speed train derailed and collided with another train traveling in the opposite direction in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks.

The collision of two high-speed trains near Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba, in Spain, caused the death of at least 21 peopleconfirmed to police sources.

Public broadcaster Televisión Española adds that 100 people were injured25 of them in serious condition. The driver of one of the trains, which was heading from Madrid to Huelva, was among the dead, the television station added.

“The train Iryo 6189 Málaga-(to Madrid) derailed from the track in Adamuz, colliding with the adjacent track. The train (from Madrid) to Huelva which was running on the adjacent track also derailed”, said the company, which manages the railway network, on social media.

According to Adif, which suspended all train services between Madrid and Andalusia, the accident happened at 6:40 pm local time, around 10 minutes after the Iryo train had leaving Córdoba towards Madrid.

Iryo is a private railway operator, majority owned by Ferrovie dello Stat, an Italian railway group controlled by the state. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 that ran between Malaga and Madridsaid a company spokesperson.

Ferrovie dello Stat said in a statement that deeply regrets what happened and activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the competent authorities in managing the situation.

The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Horrible scene

The Iryo train carried more than 300 passengers on boardwhile the Renfe train took about 100. As he told TVE Paco Carmonafire chief of Córdoba, the carriages of this train were seriously damaged, with metal twisted.

“There are still people in prison. We don’t know how many people died and the operation is focused on removing people from very narrow areas,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to get to whoever is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”

The Minister of Transport, Oscar Puentesaid he was following events from the headquarters of railway operator Adif, in Madrid.

“The latest information is very serious”, on X. “The impact was terriblecausing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”

The Adamuz’s cum-made president Rafael Morenotold El País that he was among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident together with the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly torn body several meters from the accident site.

“The scene is horrible“, he said. “I don’t think they were on the same road, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping passengers.”

Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the village of Adamuz, population 5000, with residents coming and going with food and blankets in nighttime temperatures of around 6°C.

A woman named Carmen published on X that she was on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after leaving Córdoba the train began to shake a lot, and derailed from carriage 6 behind us. The lights went out.”

Images published by another passenger on the Iryo train, also on the X, showed a employee in a fluorescent vest to instruct passengers to remain in their seats in dark carriages, and those trained in first aid to keep an eye on fellow passengers.

Salvador Jimenezan RTVE journalist who was on board, shared images showing the front of the train’s last carriage lying on its sidewith evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing up.

Jiménez said that the passengers had used emergency hammers to break the windows and get out, and that they had seen two people being removed from the overturned carriages on stretchers.

King Felipe VI and Queen Leticia of Spain said they were “following with big concern the serious accident between two high-speed trains in Adamuz”.

“We send our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased, as well as our affection and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured”, said the royal palace in the X.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenhe said, also in one on X that he was following “the terrible news” from Córdoba. “Tonight you are in my thoughts“, he wrote in Spanish.