Two high-speed trains derailed in southern Spain on Sunday, the rail network operator and state television said. RTVE said seven people had died, citing police sources.
The accident occurred near Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba. Seven people were confirmed dead by police, RTVE said, adding that 100 people were injured, 25 of them seriously.
Spanish police did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga train (to Madrid) derailed from the Adamuz track and crashed on the adjacent track. The train (from Madrid) to Huelva which was traveling on the adjacent track also derailed,” Adif, who manages the railway network, said in a social media post.
Adif said the accident occurred at 6:40 p.m. (5:40 p.m. GMT), about ten minutes after the Iryo train left Córdoba heading for Madrid.
Iryo is a private railway operator, majority owned by the Italian public railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a Ferrovie dello Stato spokesperson said.
Iryo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all train services between Madrid and Andalusia.
Andalusia’s emergency services said on social media that all rail traffic had been halted and emergency services were on the way, including at least nine ambulances and rescue vehicles.
Calls to doctors
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she was on the Iryo heading to Madrid. “Ten minutes after leaving (Córdoba), the train started shaking a lot and it derailed from car 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on
Staff told passengers they would be evacuated when it was safe to leave, but at that point the safest place was on the train. He also urged people to maintain their cell phone batteries so they can use their flashlights when they disembark.
The passenger wrote: “In our car we are fine but we don’t know what is happening in the other cars. There is smoke and they are calling a doctor.”
The regional government activated emergency protocols to mobilize more resources to the accident site. Residents announced on social media that a building would be set up in the village closest to the accident site to take evacuated passengers there.
Salvador Jimenez, journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared footage showing the nose of the train’s rear carriage lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the upward-facing side of the carriage.
Jiménez said FTE by telephone next to the stricken trains, passengers had used emergency hammers to break the windows and get out, and they had seen two people come out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There is some uncertainty about when we will arrive in Madrid, where we will spend the night, we have not yet received a message from the railway company,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
