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.
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 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.
Andalusia’s regional health chief, Antonio Sanz, said that 73 injured passengers had been taken to six different hospitals.
Francisco Carmona, Córdoba fire chief, told Spanish national radio RNE that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four wagons off the rails.
The situation at the crash site “is very serious,” Sanz said. “We have a very difficult night ahead.”
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 that some had walked away without serious injuries. Videos from people on site show some passengers crawling out of windows at some points 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.
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.
High-speed trains, running on an extensive national network, are a popular way to travel in Spain.
Spain’s military emergency relief units joined the deployment of other rescue units. The Red Cross also provided support to healthcare officials.
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.
ADIF said train services between Madrid and cities in Andalusia would not run Monday.
Wilson and Naishadham write for the Associated Press. Naishadham reported from Madrid.
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