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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has pledged a thorough investigation into the collision of two high-speed trains in southern Spain, which resulted in at least 40 fatalities. Rescue operations continue at the site.
Following a visit to the crash site, Sanchez declared three days of national mourning to honor the victims.
The incident left over 120 individuals injured after a Madrid-bound train derailed, crossed onto the adjacent tracks, and collided with an oncoming train near Adamuz on Sunday evening.
This is the deadliest rail accident to occur in the country in over a decade.
According to rail network operator Adif, the collision occurred at 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT) on Sunday. One of the trains, en route from Málaga to Madrid, derailed on a straight section of track near Córdoba approximately one hour after departure.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente stated that the force of the impact propelled carriages of the second train into an embankment. He added that the majority of fatalities and injuries occurred in the front carriages of the second train, which was traveling south from Madrid to Huelva.
Rescue teams have reported difficulties in recovering individuals trapped within the carriages due to the extensively damaged wreckage.
Sanchez, accompanied by senior officials, visited the site of the crash on Monday afternoon.
“This is a day of sorrow for all of Spain, for our entire country,” he told reporters.
“We are committed to uncovering the truth and identifying the cause of this tragedy. The findings regarding the origin and cause will be made public with absolute transparency and clarity.”
Puente indicated that the investigation could take at least a month, characterizing the incident as “extremely strange.”
However, Reuters news agency cited an unnamed source familiar with initial investigations, stating that experts discovered a faulty joint on the rails. The source indicated that this joint was causing a gap between rail sections to widen as trains passed over it and was crucial to determining the accident’s cause.
Spain’s El País newspaper reported that it remains unclear whether the fault was a cause or a consequence of the crash.
Rail authorities confirmed that 400 passengers and staff were aboard the two trains. Emergency services treated 122 people, with 41 individuals, including children, remaining hospitalized. Twelve are in intensive care.
Puente stated that the death toll “is not yet final.” Officials are currently working to identify the deceased.
According to Reuters, a spokesperson for the Italian rail company Ferrovie dello Stato identified the train involved in the crash as a Freccia 1000, capable of reaching speeds of 400 km/h (250 mph).
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist with RTVE who was on one of the trains, described the impact as feeling like an “earthquake.”
“I was in the first carriage. There was a moment when it felt like an earthquake, and the train had indeed derailed,” Jimenez recounted.
Footage from the scene shows some train carriages overturned. Rescue workers are seen scaling the train to extract people from the tilted doors and windows.
José, a passenger bound for Madrid, told public broadcaster Canal Sur: “There were people screaming and calling for doctors.”
All high-speed rail services between Madrid and the southern cities of Malaga, Cordoba, Sevilla, and Huelva have been suspended until Friday.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia expressed their “great concern” about the disaster and offered their “most heartfelt condolences.”
The emergency agency in Andalusia urged crash survivors to contact their families or post on social media to confirm their safety.
The Spanish Red Cross has deployed emergency support services to the scene and is providing counseling to families in the vicinity.
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez from the Red Cross told RNE radio: “The families are experiencing great anxiety due to the lack of information. These are very distressing moments.”
In 2013, Spain experienced its worst high-speed train derailment in Galicia, resulting in 80 fatalities and 140 injuries.
Spain’s high-speed rail network is the second largest globally, connecting over 50 cities. Adif data indicates the Spanish rail network spans more than 4,000km (2,485 miles).
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