Two high-speed trains collided in southern Spain Sunday night after one derailed and slid onto an active track. At least 39 people are dead, dozens more injured — and Spain is now facing one of its worst rail disasters in more than a decade.
The crash shut down major routes across Andalusia, triggered a frantic overnight rescue in near darkness, and left officials searching for answers after a nearly new train left the rails on a flat, recently upgraded line.
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A derailment, then impact
The collision happened just before 7:45 p.m. near the town of Adamuz, outside Córdoba.
A privately operated Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid, carrying roughly 300 passengers, lost its rear three carriages. They jumped the tracks, crossed into the opposite line, and slammed into the front of an oncoming Renfe train, carrying nearly 200 passengers, heading from Madrid to Huelva.
The impact flipped both trains at speed.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the front two carriages of the Renfe train were knocked off the tracks and sent plunging down an embankment. The heaviest damage was concentrated at the front of that train.
The driver of the Renfe service was among the dead.
Emergency officials said at least 73 passengers were injured, including 24 in serious condition.
‘A truly strange’ failure
Puente said the cause of the derailment remains unknown, and baffling.
The track had been renovated in May as part of a major infrastructure upgrade. The Iryo train was less than four years old. The section of line was straight, flat, and considered low risk.
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Around 18 billion passenger-miles are completed on the Spanish high-speed rail network annually.
“It is truly strange. All the railway experts who have been here today… and those we have consulted are extremely baffled by the accident,” Puente told Spanish TV channel Telecinco, according to CNN.
Rescue in darkness
The first hours were frantic.
Passengers crawled out through broken windows, with some having to use use hammers to break the glass. Others waited inside twisted carriages as rescuers worked by flashlight.
“The problem is that the carriages are twisted, and the metal is twisted with the people inside,” Córdoba fire chief Francisco Carmona said.
Local residents brought blankets and water. Military emergency units, firefighters, police, Red Cross teams and medical crews poured into the area, which officials described as difficult to reach.
By early Monday, authorities said all survivors had been removed. Rescuers continued recovering bodies through the night.
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A nation in shock
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it “a night of deep pain” for Spain.
The King and Queen issued condolences, saying they were following developments “with great concern.”
European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, sent messages of
sympathy to victims and families.
The crash is Spain’s deadliest rail accident since 2013, when 79 people were killed in Galicia.
