High-speed train collision after derailment in southern Spain kills at least 21

BARCELONA, Spain — 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 people 21 and injuring dozens more, the country’s transport minister said.

The tail end of an evening train between Malaga and Madrid with around 300 passengers went off the rails near Córdoba at 7:45 p.m. local time and slammed into a train with some 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente updated the death toll to 21 confirmed victims after midnight when he said that rescuers had removed all the survivors. But Puente said there could be more victims still to be confirmed.

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

Moreno said emergency workers would work all night to remove bodies from the wreckage.

“We have a very difficult night ahead,” Andalusia’s regional health chief Antonio Sanz said.

Officials call accident ‘strange’

Puente said the cause of the crash 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. The second train, which took the brunt of the impact, belonged to Spain’s public train company Renfe.

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

According to Puente, 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 13-foot slope. He said the worst damage was to that front section of the Renfe train.

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

Impact ‘felt like an earthquake’

Salvador Jiménez, a journalist for Spanish broadcaster RTVE, was on board one of the derailed trains and told the network by phone that “there was a moment when it felt like an earthquake and the train had indeed derailed.”

He said passengers used emergency hammers to break the windows and some walked away without serious injuries. Videos from people on site show some passengers crawling out of windows to escape the wreckage, with carriages leaning at an angle.

The incident occurred in the early evening, and hundreds of survivors had to be rescued in the darkness.

Francisco Carmona, Córdoba’s fire chief, told Spanish national radio RNE that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four wagons off the rails.

The regional civil protection chief, María Belén Moya Rojas, told Canal Sur the accident happened in an area that is hard to reach. Local people were taking blankets and water to the scene to help the victims, she said.

“Tonight is one of deep sadness for our country,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X. “I want to express my sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims.”

Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia also 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 Córdoba.

“Tonight you are in my thoughts,” she wrote in Spanish.

Largest high-speed train network

Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe for trains moving faster than 155 mph, with more than 1,900 miles of track, according to the European Union.

The network is a popular, competitively priced and generally safe mode of transport. Renfe said more than 25 million passengers took one of its high-speed trains in 2024.

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

Spain’s worst train accident this century occurred in 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in the country’s northwest. An investigation concluded the train was traveling 111 mph on a stretch with a 50-mph speed limit when it left the tracks.

Wilson and Naishadham write for the Associated Press. Naishadham reported from Madrid. AP writer Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.