At least 21 people have been killed after a crash involving high-speed trains in southern Spain, as authorities warn the death toll could rise overnight.<\/p>\n
More than 30 are being treated for serious injuries in hospital, Spain\u2019s transport minister Oscar Puente said.<\/p>\n
The incident happened near the town of Adamuz, close to the city of Cordoba, when a high-speed train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed and crossed over onto another track, the rail network operator Adif said.<\/p>\n
The derailed train then collided with an oncoming train, travelling from Madrid to Huelva. Andalusian emergency services said at least 73 people in total were injured in the collision.<\/p>\n
The incident appeared to be \u201cextremely strange\u201d, Puente added, because the train derailed on a straight stretch of track, which had been refurbished in May last year.<\/p>\n
The official cause is not yet known. An investigation is not expected to determine what happened for at least a month.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s Prime Minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, said the country will endure a \u201cnight of deep pain\u201d.<\/p>\n
Iryo, a private rail company that operated the journey from Malaga, said around 300 passengers were on board the train that first derailed, while the other train \u2013 operated by Renfe \u2013 had around 100 passengers.<\/p>\n
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, was one of the first people on the scene of the accident. He described it as like \u201ca nightmare\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, the Emergency Agency of Andaluc\u00eda urged any crash survivors to post on social media that they are alive.<\/p>\n
The twisted wreckage of the train made it difficult to recover survivors and bodies, rescue crews said.<\/p>\n
Cordoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE: \u201cWe have even had to remove a dead person to be able to reach someone alive. It is hard, tricky work.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Adif, the crash happened about ten minutes after the train left Malaga at 18:40 local time (17:40 GMT). The company said it was setting up spaces for relatives of victims at Atocha, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga and Huelva stations.<\/p>\n
All rail services between Madrid and Andalusia were suspended following the accident and will remain close on Monday. The company said it will keep terminals open overnight for impacted passengers.<\/p>\n
The type of train involved in the crash was a Freccia 1000, which can reach top speeds of 400 km\/h (250 mph), a spokesperson for the Italian rail company Ferrovie dello Stato told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n
The Spanish Red Cross has deployed emergency support services to the scene, while also offering counselling to families nearby.<\/p>\n
Miguel \u00c1ngel Rodr\u00edguez from the Red Cross told RNE radio: \u201cThe families are going through a situation of great anxiety due to the lack of information. These are very distressing moments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist with RTVE who was on one of the trains, said the impact felt like an \u201cearthquake\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in the first carriage. There was a moment when it felt like an earthquake and the train had indeed derailed,\u201d Jimenez said.<\/p>\n
In his latest update on X, he said he was among a group of passengers waiting in the \u201cfreezing cold night\u201d for buses to transport them to a local sports centre.<\/p>\n
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia said they were following news of the disaster with \u201cwith great concern\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d the royal palace said on X.<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen have both offered condolences in statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thoughts are with the victims, their families and the entire Spanish people. France stands by your side,\u201d Macron wrote on social media.<\/p>\n
In 2013, Spain suffered its worst high-speed train derailment in Galicia, north-west Spain, which left 80 people dead and 140 others injured.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least 21 people have been killed after a crash involving high-speed trains in southern Spain, as authorities warn the death toll could rise overnight. More than 30 are being treated for serious injuries in hospital, Spain\u2019s transport minister Oscar Puente said. The incident happened near the town of Adamuz, close to the city of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}