At least 21 killed as two high-speed trains collide in southern Spain

Derailment near Córdoba set off collision, officials said

A high-speed train derailed, jumped onto the track in the opposite direction and slammed into an oncoming train Sunday in southern Spain, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens more, Spain’s transport minister said.

The tail end of an evening train traveling from Málaga to Madrid with some 300 passengers went off the rails near Córdoba at 7:45 p.m., according to rail operator Adif. Adif said it then struck a train with some 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva.

After midnight, Transport Minister Óscar Puente updated the death toll to 21 and said rescuers had removed all the survivors. Puente added that there could be more victims still to be confirmed.

Injured passengers treated at hospitals across Andalusia

Andalusia regional President Juanma Moreno said 75 passengers were hospitalized. Moreno said most were taken to the nearby city of Córdoba, including 15 people with serious injuries.

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 information. Members of Spain’s Civil Guard and Civil Defense were also on site, and only emergency services were allowed to approach the crash site.

Moreno said emergency workers would work all night to remove bodies from the wreckage, and Andalusia’s regional health chief Antonio Sanz said, “We have a very difficult night ahead.”

Transport minister called incident “truly strange”

Puente said the cause of the crash was unknown. He called it “a truly strange” incident because it occurred on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated in May, and he said the train that jumped the track was less than 4 years old.

Puente said the train that jumped the track belonged to private company Iryo, while the second train was part of Spain’s public train company Renfe. He said the back part of the first train derailed and crashed into the head of the other train, knocking its first two carriages off the track and down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope, with the worst damage to the front section of the Renfe train.

When reporters asked how long an inquiry into the crash’s cause could take, Puente said it could be a month.

Company, rescue efforts and accounts from passengers and firefighters

Iryo said in a statement that it “deeply lamented what has happened” and that it was working with authorities to manage the situation.

Salvador Jiménez, a journalist for Spanish broadcaster RTVE who was on board one of the derailed trains, told the network by phone that “there was a moment when it felt like an earthquake and the train had indeed derailed.” Jiménez said passengers used emergency hammers to break the windows, and that some had walked away without serious injuries.

Francisco Carmona, the firefighter chief of Córdoba, told Spanish national radio RNE that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four wagons off the rails. María Belén Moya Rojas, the regional Civil Protection chief, told Canal Sur that the crash happened in an area hard to reach, and she added that local people were taking blankets and water to the scene to help the victims.

Spain’s military emergency relief units joined the deployment of other rescue units, and the Red Cross provided support to health care officials.

Condolences from Spanish leaders and EU chief

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X that “Tonight is one of deep sadness for our country,” saying he wanted to express his “sincerest condolences” to the families and loved ones of the victims.

Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia expressed their condolences and concern on social media. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that she was following “the terrible news” from Cordoba and wrote in Spanish: “Tonight you are in my thoughts.”

Services disrupted as Spain has major high-speed network

Adif said train services between Madrid and cities in Andalusia would not run Monday.

Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe for trains moving over 250 kph (155 mph), with more than 3,100 kilometers (1,900 miles) of track, according to the European Union. Renfe said more than 25 million passengers took one of its high-speed trains in 2024.

The crash was Spain’s worst train accident this century since 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in the country’s northwest. An investigation concluded the train was traveling 179 kph (111 mph) on a stretch with an 80 kph (50 mph) speed limit.