High-speed train crash leaves at least 21 dead

Spain was witnessing a “night of deep pain” after the deadly collision of two high-speed trains in the southern Andalusia region, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

“I want to express my sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims,” Sanchez said in a statement on X.

“No word can alleviate such great suffering, but I want them to know that the whole country is by their side in this tough moment.”

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia also said that they were following the news of the accident “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 wrote on X.

Journalist Salvador Jimenez, who was on one of the trains involved in the accident, is posting that uninjured passengers have been evacuated from the accident site to a sports center in Adamuz. 

They are now waiting for buses to take them to Madrid.

In an earlier post, he said they had been given emergency blankets as the night was “freezing.” 

Jimenez earlier told Spain’s national broadcaster RTVE in an interview that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out.

The cause for the high-speed train crash is not yet known, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente told reporters at a press conference at in Madrid.

He added that it was “really strange” that  derailment should have happened on a straight stretch of track.

This section of track was renewed in May, he added.

He also gave an update on the injured.

“Thirty injured have been taken to hospitals and were in serious condition,” he told reporters, adding that all the injured have now been evacuated to receive care.

Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s regional health minister, said rescue operations are ongoing. 

He said at least one passenger carriage had rolled down a four-meter (13-foot) slope.

The situation at the crash site “is very serious,” Sanz said.

“We have a very difficult night ahead.”

The firefighter chief of Cordoba, Francisco Carmona, told Spain’s national radio RNE that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four wagons off the rails.

Regional Civil Protection chief Maria Belen Moya Rojas told local broadcaster Canal Sur that 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, Rojas said.

A military rescue unit is on its way to the accident site, Spain’s El Pais reported, after Andalusia’s regional government asked the military for help.

A high-speed train travelling from Malaga to Madried derailed near Adamuz, nearly 40 kilometers (24 miles) northeast of Cordoba, on Sunday evening around 7.30 p.m. local time (18:30 UTC/GMT).

It jumped onto another track, where it hit an oncoming train. This train also derailed, Spain’s ADIF rail body posted on X. 

The two trains were carrying nearly 500 passengers, local media, including El Pais, report.

Spanish media that at least 21 people were killed in the crash, with at least other 30 seriously injured. 

The health minister for the Andalusia region where the crash happened, Antonio Sanz, said officials told him they fear the death toll may rise.

We are following the high-speed rail crash in southern Spain on Sunday night that has killed at least 21 people and injured dozens more. 

Follow along for news and details.