‘The impact was terrible’: High-speed train collision in Spain leaves 21 dead

Loading

The Iryo train that initially left the rails was less than four years old, he said, while the second train bore the brunt of the impact.

According to Puente, the rear section of the Iryo train derailed and crashed into the front of the Renfe train, knocking its first two carriages off the rails and down a four-metre slope.

Andalusia’s regional health chief, Antonio Sanz, said 73 injured passengers have been taken to six different hospitals.

Codoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Spanish national radio that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four carriages off the rails. Social media footage showed a section of one train lying tilted at an angle, with emergency workers attempting to rescue passengers through broken windows.

The situation at the crash site “is very serious”, Sanz said. “We have a very difficult night ahead.”

In comments to Spanish national TV, Carmona said rescuers were focusing on finding survivors and evacuating people from narrow areas of the wreckage. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”

Spain’s King Felipe VI said he and Queen Letizia were following the situation “with great concern”.

“We extend our most heartfelt condolences to the relatives and loved ones of the dead, as well as our love and wishes for a swift recovery to the injured,” the royal palace said on social media.

All rail services between Madrid and Andalusia have been suspended, Adif said.

‘Horrific’ scene

Adamuz Mayor Rafael Moreno told El País newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene alongside the police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several metres from the accident site.

“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”

Images on local television showed a reception centre set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5000, with people bringing food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 6 degrees.

A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba), the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”

Social media footage posted by another Iryo passenger showed a staff member in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain their mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.

Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.

Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.

“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night; we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold, but here we are.”

Reuters, AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.