CloseAt least 21 people have been killed after a high-speed train derailed and crashed into an oncoming train, pushing it off the tracks, in Spain on Sunday.
State broadcaster Television Espanola reported that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously, in the horror accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province.
The driver of one of the trains, which was travelling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station reported.
"The Iryo 6189 Malaga – (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was travelling on the adjacent track has also derailed," said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6.40pm local time, about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading towards Madrid.
Spanish transport minister said the crash was “very serious”. Speaking of the derailment of the Iryo train, he said: “The impact has been terrible, causing the first two units of the Renfe train to be thrown off as a result.”
Prime minister Pedro Sanchez said he was “very concerned” by the news.
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Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez cleared his schedule for Monday to address the tragedy, while the King and Queen were following the developments with concern, a spokesperson said.
Foreign embassies sent text messages to staff asking them to confirm they were safe.
Namita Singh19 January 2026 06:45
‘The scene is horrific’
Adamuz Mayor Rafael Moreno told El Pais that he was among the first to reach the crash site alongside the local 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 they were on the same track, but it's not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers."
Namita Singh19 January 2026 06:34
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A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks and down an embankment.
The accident happened at 7.45pm near Adamuz in the province of Cordoba, about 360km south of the capital Madrid.
An Iryo-operated train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed, sending multiple carriages across onto the other tracks. These were then hit head-on by a Renfe train travelling from Madrid to Huelva, sending it careering down a railway embankment.
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
The crash took place 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading towards Madrid, authorities said.
"The Iryo 6189 Malaga – (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was travelling on the adjacent track has also derailed," Adif, which runs the rail network, said in a social media post.
Namita Singh19 January 2026 05:55
There are still people trapped’: Everything we know about the train crash
The accident happened at 7.45pm, about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading towards Madrid, authorities said."
The Iryo 6189 Malaga – (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was travelling on the adjacent track has also derailed," Adif, which runs the rail network, said in a social media post.
Spanish transport minister Oscar Puente said most of those killed and injured had been in the first two carriages of the second train, the Renfe Alvia that derailed on impact and plunged down the side of the railway embankment. The first carriage had 37 people on board and the second, 16, he said.
An Iryo-operated train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed, smashing into the Renfe train travelling from Madrid to Huelva, sending it careering down a railway embankment.
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE that while the Iryo had been evacuated within hours of the accident, the Renfe carriages were badly damaged, with twisted metal and seats.
"There are still people trapped. The operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow," he said. "We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task."
Namita Singh19 January 2026 05:45
Officials raise concerns as train derailed on flat stretch
The cause for the crash is not yet known, Spanish transport minister Oscar Puente told reporters at a press conference at Atocha station in Madrid, adding it was "really strange" that a derailment should have happened on a straight stretch of track. This section of track was renewed in May, he added.
The second train, heading to Huelva and operated by state-funded Renfe, was travelling at around 200 kmph at the moment of impact, reported El Pais.
It was unclear how fast the first train was travelling when it derailed.
Namita Singh19 January 2026 05:30
Victims share account of surviving train crash
Maria San José, 33, a passenger on the Malaga-to-Madrid high-speed train that first derailed, said that there are many injured. “I am still trembling," she told El Pais.
A passenger on the second train, who was not identified, told public broadcaster TVE: "There were people screaming, their bags fell from the shelves. I was travelling to Huelva in the fourth carriage, the last, luckily."
Namita Singh19 January 2026 05:15
Driver of train among those killed
Those killed in the crash include the 27-year-old driver of the Madrid-to-Huelva train, which struck the other train's derailed carriages head-on, reported the El Pais newspaper.
"The forcefulness of the accident has been very strong … we will likely find (more) corpses," the chief of Andalucia's regional government, Juanma Moreno said, adding that heavy machinery would need to be used to remove the trains' wrecked metal pieces and try to locate any new victims.
There were around 400 passengers on the two trains, most of them Spaniards travelling back to and from Madrid after the weekend. It was unclear how many tourists were be on board, though January is not peak holiday season in Spain.
Namita Singh19 January 2026 05:00
Spain leads Europe in high-speed trains
Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe for trains moving over 250kmph (155mph), with more than 3,100km (1,900 miles) of track, according to the European Union.
The network is a popular, competitively priced and safe mode of transport. Renfe said more than 25 million passengers took one of its high-speed trains in 2024.
Rail operator Adif said train services between Madrid and cities in Andalusia would not run on Monday.Spain's worst train accident this century occurred in 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in the country's northwest.
An investigation concluded the train was traveling 179kmph (111 mph) on a stretch with an 80kmph (50 mph) speed limit when it left the tracks.
Namita Singh19 January 2026 04:45
Spanish and European leaders mourn the dead
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has offered his “sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims”.
"Tonight is one of deep sadness for our country,” he wrote on X.
Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia also expressed their condolences and concern on social media.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that she was following "the terrible news" from Cordoba.
"Tonight you are in my thoughts," she wrote in Spanish.
Namita Singh19 January 2026 04:30
Locals reaching accident scene to help victims
Francisco Carmona, the firefighter chief of Cordoba, told Spanish national radio RNE that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four carriages off the rails.
The regional Civil Protection chief, Marïa Belïn Moya Rojas, told Canal Sur the accident happened in an area that is hard to reach. She added that local people were taking blankets and water to the scene to help the victims.
Spain's military emergency relief units joined the deployment of other rescue units. The Red Cross also provided support to healthcare officials.
