The Spanish government vowed Monday, January 19, to conduct a full investigation into the causes of a high-speed train collision that killed at least 39 people, with officials warning the death toll could rise as rescuers worked among the wreckage.
The disaster struck on Sunday evening when a train operated by rail company Iryo, traveling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz, in the southern region of Andalucia. It crossed onto the other track where it crashed into an oncoming train, which also derailed.
“This is a day of sorrow for all of Spain, for our entire country,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters during a visit to Adamuz as he declared three days of mourning. “We will uncover the answer, and once the cause of this tragedy is determined, we will present it with absolute transparency.”
The interior ministry said 39 people died. Over 120 people were injured, with 43 still in hospital, regional emergency services said. Of those, 12 were in intensive care.
Heavy machinery was being deployed to lift the most severely damaged train carriages, the head of the regional government of Andalucia, Juan Manuel Moreno, told reporters. “Unfortunately, it is quite possible that additional victims will be found beneath the twisted wreckage. The goal is to identify the victims as quickly as possible,” he added.
‘Extremely strange’
The derailment occurred on a straight section of track, and the trains were travelling within the speed limit, officials said. Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the first train to derail was “practically new” and the section of the track where the disaster happened had been recently renovated, making the accident “extremely strange.”
Train operator Iryo said the locomotive was built in 2022 and last inspected just three days before the accident. It said it “veered onto the adjacent track for still unknown reasons.” The company said around 300 people were on board its service from the Andalusian city of Malaga to the capital, Madrid.
Renfe, the operator of the second train travelling to the southern city of Huelva, said it was carrying 184 passengers. Human error has “been practically ruled out,” Renfe president Alvaro Fernandez Heredia told Spanish public radio RNE. “It must be related to Iryo’s rolling stock or an infrastructure issue,” he added.
The stretch of track where the accident happened had a speed limit of 250 kilometres per hour, Heredia said. One train was travelling at 205 kilometres per hour, and the other 210 kilometres per hour, he added.
Services suspended
High-speed services between Madrid and the Andalusian cities of Cordoba, Seville, Malaga and Huelva would be suspended for the entirety of Monday at least, Adif announced. Adif said spaces had been set up at stations in Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga and Huelva to assist the relatives of victims.
The royal palace said on X that King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia were following the news “with great concern,” offering “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.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen were among the world leaders offering condolences.
Spain has Europe’s largest high-speed rail network, with more than 3,000 kilometres of dedicated tracks connecting major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and Malaga.
The crash late on Sunday is Spain’s deadliest train accident since 2013, when 80 people died after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela. The incident killed 80 people and injured more than 140 – Spain’s deadliest such tragedy since 1944.