At least 21 dead in Spain high-speed train crash

At least 21 people have died in a high-speed train crash in southern Spain. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise further overnight.

Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said more than 30 people were being treated in hospitals for serious injuries.

The incident occurred near the town of Adamuz, close to the city of Córdoba, when a high-speed train heading from Malaga to Madrid derailed and crossed over to another track, rail network operator Adif said.

The derailed train collided with an oncoming train heading from Madrid to Huelva. Andalusia’s emergency services said at least 73 people were injured in the crash.

The incident seemed “very strange” because the train derailed on a renovated straight track in May last year, Puente added.

The official cause is not yet known. The investigation is not expected to determine what happened for at least a month.

“This country will experience a night of deep suffering,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

Iryo, the private railway company that operated the trip from Malaga, said the first train that derailed had about 300 passengers on board and another train operated by Renfe had about 100 passengers.

Adamuz Mayor Rafael Moreno was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the accident. He described it as being like a “nightmare”.

Andalusia’s Emergency Agency, in a post on

Rescue workers said the twisted wreckage of the train made it difficult to recover survivors and bodies.

Córdoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE: “To get to the living, you had to remove the dead. It was a difficult and demanding task.”

According to Adif, the accident occurred about 10 minutes after the train left Malaga at 18:40 local time (17:40 GMT). The company said it was preparing spaces for victims’ families at the Atocha, Seville, Córdoba, Málaga and Huelva stations.

All rail services between Madrid and Andalusia were suspended following the incident and will remain suspended on Monday. The company said it would keep the terminal open overnight for affected passengers.

The type of train involved in the crash was a Freccia 1000, which can reach top speeds of 400 km/h (250 mph), a spokesman for Italian railway company Ferrovie dello Stato told Reuters.

The Spanish Red Cross deployed emergency support services to the scene while also providing counseling to nearby families.

“Families are experiencing great anxiety due to lack of information. It is a very painful moment,” Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of the Red Cross told RNE radio.

RTVE reporter Salvador Jimenez, who was on the train, said the impact felt like an “earthquake.”

“I was in the first carriage. There was a moment where it felt like there was an earthquake and the train actually derailed,” Jimenez said.

In a recent update to X, he said he was among a group of passengers waiting for a bus to take them to a local sports center on a “freezing cold night”.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia said they were watching news of the disaster “with great concern.”

The palace said on this day, “We express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased and hope for a speedy recovery for the injured.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed condolences in a statement.

“My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the entire Spanish people,” President Macron wrote on social media, adding, “France is on your side.”

In 2013, the worst high-speed train derailment occurred in Galicia, northwestern Spain, killing 80 people and injuring 140.