Spain high-speed train crash kills 39, injures dozens
A high-speed train has derailed, jumped onto the track in the opposite direction and slammed into an oncoming train in southern Spain, killing at least 39 peopel and injuring dozens more.
The tail end of an evening train travelling from Malaga to Madrid with some 300 passengers whent off the rails near Cordoba and slammed into a train with about 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.
The death toll rose to at least 39 with 152 people injured, state broadcaster RTVE reported, citing the Guardia civil police force.
More than 200 trains between Madrid and the southern Andalucia region — including major cities Cordoba, Seville and Granada — have been cancelled throughout Monday, according to RTVE.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has cleared out his agenda for the day, his office said in a statement on Monday.
two high-speed trains carrying hundreds of passengers crashed head-on in southern Spain. Source: AFP / X/@ELEANORINTHESKY
The Spanish Red Cross set up a help center in the town of Adamuz, near the crash site, offering assistance to emergency services and people seeking facts.
Members of Spain’s Civil Guard and Civil Defense were also on site working in the cold, cloudless Sunday night (local time).
Andalusia regional president Juanma Moreno said emergency workers would work all night to remove bodies from the wreckage.
“We have a very tough night ahead,” Andalusia’s regional health chief Antonio Sanz said.
spain’s transport minister Óscar Puente said the cause of the crash, at 7.45pm local time on Sunday, was unknown.
He called it “a truly strange” incident because it happened on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated in May.
He also said the train that jumped the track was less than four years old. That train belonged to the private company Iryo, while the second train, which took the brunt of the impact, was part of Spain’s public train company Renfe.
Iryo issued a statement saying it “deeply lamented what has happened” and it was working with authorities to manage the situation.
‘Like a horror movie’
Lucas Meriako, who was travelling on the first train that derailed, told LaSexta television that “this looks like a horror movie”.
“We felt a very strong hit from behind and the feeling that the whole train was about to collapse, break … there were many injured due to the glass,” he told Agence France-presse.
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael More