Updated January 19, 2026 — 3:46pm,first published January 19, 2026 — 9:14am
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Madrid: Emergency services are working through the night to remove the bodies of victims killed in a horrific high-speed train crash in southern Spain that has killed at least 21 people and injured dozens more.
Officials say it could take weeks to work out how the collision between two trains happened on a straight stretch of track between Malaga and Madrid that was only renovated in May. One of the trains involved was also only four years old. Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe, with trains that travel at more than 250 km/h.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the cause of the crash, near Adamuz in Cordoba province, was unknown, and called it “a truly strange” incident that could take a month to unpick.
He said the back carriages of a Madrid-bound train, with about 300 people on board, had derailed about 7.45pm local time and crashed into the head of an oncoming train heading for Huevla, with 200 people on board. The Madrid-bound train was only four years old and operated by private company Iryo, while the second train was run by public company Renfe.
The first two carriages of the Renfe train were knocked off the track by the collision and down a four-metre slope. Puente said the worst damage was to the front section of that train.
Twenty-one people were confirmed killed but that number could climb, Puente said. Spain’s national broadcaster said about 100 others had been injured, 25 seriously. Local officials said 75 had been hospitalised, 15 with serious injuries. One of the drivers was among the dead, the TV station said.
Adamuz Mayor Rafael Moreno told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene alongside the police, and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several metres from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think [the trains] were on the same track but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
Moreno said emergency workers would work all night to remove bodies from the wreckage, while Andalusia’s regional health chief Antonio Sanz said workers faced “a very difficult night ahead”.
Cordoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Spanish national radio that one of the trains was badly mangled. Social media footage showed a section of one train lying tilted at an angle, with emergency workers attempting to rescue passengers through broken windows.
Social media images showed the aftermath of the crash in Codoba province.AFP
In comments to Spanish national TV, Carmona said rescuers were focusing on finding survivors and evacuating people from narrow areas of the wreckage. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Puente said that all survivors had been removed from the train by midnight.
Regional Civil Protection chief Maria Belen Moya Rojas told television network Canal Sur the accident happened in an area that was hard to reach, and local people were taking blankets and water to the scene to help the victims. Spain’s military emergency relief units joined other rescue units at the scene, and the Red Cross provided support to healthcare officials.
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing [from Cordoba], the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Social media footage posted by another Iryo passenger showed a staff member in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain their mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Iryo issued a statement saying it “deeply lamented what has happened” and that it was working with authorities to manage the situation. Renfe did not respond to a request for comment.
Iryo is majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
“Tonight is one of deep sadness for our country,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X. “I want to express my sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims.”
Passengers wait for updates in Madrid as services were suspended after the collision.AP
Spain’s King Felipe VI said he and Queen Letizia were following the situation “with great concern”.
“We 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,” the royal palace said on social media.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for broadcaster RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
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Jimenez told RTVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night; we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
Reuters, AP
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