The death toll from Sunday’s high-speed train crash in southern Spain has climbed to 39, with 152 injured, police sources told state broadcaster RTVE on Monday. The accident happened near the town of Adamuz, close to the city of Cordoba.
Deadly train crash in southern Spain kills 39
Spain’s rail network operator Adif said a high-speed train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed and crashed onto a nearby track. Moments later, another train coming in the opposite direction, from Madrid to Huelva, also derailed. The crash took place around ten minutes after the Malaga-Madrid train left the station at 6:40 pm local time (5:40 pm GMT). Following the accident, all train services between Madrid and the Andalusia region were immediately suspended.
A high-speed train derailed in southern Spain on Sunday. It jumped onto the opposite track and collided with an oncoming train, resulting in at least 39 deaths and dozens of injuries. pic.twitter.com/v7fSxcAXmn
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Andalusian emergency services confirmed that at least 25 people were seriously injured. Others suffered minor injuries and were treated either on the ground itself or at nearby hospitals.“We have received calls from people reporting that there were injured and trapped,” a spokesperson for the Andalusian emergency services told AFP.
Iryo, the private rail company that operated the Malaga-Madrid service, said around 400 passengers were on board at the time of the derailment.
Passengers describe moments of fear
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist with Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE, was travelling on one of the trains when the crash happened. He said many passengers were lucky to escape without major injuries. “I was in the first carriage. There was a moment when it felt like an earthquake and the train had indeed derailed,” Jimenez said, according to the BBC. “They called immediately to see if there were people in the health service who could help, they took hammers to break the windows and in the end they evacuated us,” Jimenez added.
One witness told public broadcaster RTVE that one of the carriages of the first train had completely overturned. Television footage showed medical teams and fire services working at the scene late into the night.
A woman named Carmen wrote on X that she had been travelling on the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Córdoba), the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out,” she said.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the government was working closely with emergency services to support those affected by the tragedy.
Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno also expressed his concern and said his thoughts were with the victims and their families during this difficult time.
Iryo, which runs the Málaga to Madrid train, is a private rail company operated by an Italian group.