At least 39 people have died after a high-speed train collision on Sunday evening in southern Spain, authorities confirmed. Rescue operations are ongoing near Adamuz, Córdoba, where the crash occurred.
The accident involved a train traveling from Malaga to Madrid with around 300 passengers, which derailed near the tail end and collided head-on with an oncoming train from Madrid to Huelva. 75 passengers were hospitalized, mostly in Córdoba, as rescue teams, the Spanish Red Cross, civil defense, and the civil guard worked through the night.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente described the crash as “truly strange”, noting it occurred on a flat, recently renovated stretch of track. The derailed train, operated by Iryo, was less than four years old, while the second train, which sustained the heaviest damage, belongs to Spain’s public rail company Renfe.
The impact knocked the first two carriages of the Renfe train down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope, causing the worst damage to its front section. Puente said a full investigation could take up to a month.
Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe, with over 3,100 km of track for trains traveling above 250 kph (155 mph). Renfe reported more than 25 million passengers in 2024. Train services between Madrid and Andalusian cities are suspended as authorities continue emergency operations.
This tragedy marks Spain’s deadliest train accident in over a decade, surpassing the 2013 derailment in northwest Spain, which killed 80 people.
