A high-speed train derailed and slammed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the other train off the tracks in a collision, police sources confirmed. Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by the police, with the state television station Tv Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously.
The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the broadcaster added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga – (to Madrid) train has derailed at Adamuz and crashed onto the adjacent track. The train (Madrid) to Huelva, which was running on the adjacent track, has also been derailed,” rail network operator Adif said in a post on social media.
Adif said the accident happened at 18:40 (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba for Madrid.
Iryo is a private railway operator, majority owned by the Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train, which ran between Malaga and Madrid, a Ferrovie dello Stato spokesman said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to deal with the situation.
The other train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail connections between Madrid and Andalusia.
Terrible scene
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TWO the first train bound for Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The second train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to get to everyone who is still alive. It’s proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he wrote on X. “The impact was terrible, causing 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 mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the crash site with local police and saw what he believed to be a badly mangled body several meters from the crash site.
“The scene is terrible,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
Calling for doctors
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen wrote on X that she had been on the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departure (from Cordoba) the train started shaking a lot and it derailed from bus 6 behind us. The light went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also the X, showed an Iryo employee in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to stay in their seats in the dark carriages and those with first aid training to keep an eye on fellow passengers. He also encouraged people to maintain cell phone batteries to be able to use their torches when disembarking.
Salvador Jimenez, journalist for RTVE who were aboard the Iryo train shared photos showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TWO by telephone from the side of the stricken trains, that passengers had used emergency hammers to break the windows and crawl out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There is some uncertainty about when we will get to Madrid, where we will spend the night, we have not received any word from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold, but here we are.”
