Spain’s Worst Rail Crash Leaves 39 Dead

At least 39 people have died and dozens more injured in southern Spain after a catastrophic train collision, the country’s worst rail accident in more than a decade, according to Spain’s Civil Guard. 

The crash occurred on Sunday evening when carriages on a Madrid-bound train derailed and crossed onto the opposite track, colliding with an oncoming train near the town of Adamuz in Córdoba.

Around 400 passengers and staff were on board both trains. Emergency services treated 122 people, with 43 still in hospital, including four children. Of those, 12 adults and one child are in intensive care.  

The collision took place at 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT), roughly an hour after the train left Málaga heading north to Madrid, on a straight stretch of track. The impact forced carriages of the second train into an embankment. 

Most of the casualties were in the front carriages of that train, which was travelling south from Madrid to Huelva. The first train was operated by private company Iryo with about 300 passengers on board, while the second train, run by state operator Renfe, carried around 100 passengers.

The tragedy is being closely followed in Malaysia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra) said it has not yet received official confirmation of any Malaysians involved in the accident. The Malaysian Embassy in Madrid is in close contact with local authorities in Córdoba and the train operators.

The trains involved were Freccia 1000 high-speed trains, capable of reaching 400 km/h (250 mph), according to the Italian rail company Ferrovie dello Stato. 

All rail services between Madrid and Andalusia were suspended following the accident and are expected to remain closed through Monday. The official cause is still unknown, with authorities warning it could take at least a month to determine what went wrong.