The death toll from a devastating high-speed train crash in southern Spain has risen to 39, sharply higher than the initial reports of 21 fatalities, as authorities continue to assess the full scale of the country’s worst rail disaster in more than a decade.
The collision occurred at about 7:45 pm on Sunday near the town of Adamuz in the province of Cordoba, roughly 360 kilometres south of Madrid.
A high-speed train derailed and then collided with an oncoming train, leaving at least 122 people injured. Emergency services said 48 of the injured remain in hospital, including 12 in intensive care.
Early official figures had put the number of dead at 21, but as rescue teams gained better access to the wreckage and hospitals confirmed fatalities, the toll rose to 39.
Spain’s transport minister said the figure was “not yet definitive”, indicating it could still change as investigations continue.
Among the survivors was Ana, a young woman travelling back to Madrid, who described the terrifying moments after the crash.
“The train tipped to one side, then everything went dark, and all I heard was screams,” she said while being treated at a Red Cross centre in Adamuz.
Limping and wrapped in a blanket, with her face covered in plasters, she recounted how other passengers pulled her through a window, covered in blood, after escaping the wreckage. Firefighters later rescued her sister, and both were taken to hospital.
Another account from the scene reaffirmed the chaos inside the carriages. “There were people who were fine and others who were very, very badly injured. You had them right in front of you and you knew they were going to die, and you couldn’t do anything,” Ana said.
The rescue operation proved extremely challenging because of the remote location of the crash. The site could only be accessed via a single-track road, complicating efforts to move ambulances in and out.
The national emergency director at the Spanish Red Cross said the terrain significantly slowed the response as teams worked through the night to reach survivors.
Around 400 passengers were travelling on the two trains involved, operated by Iryo and Alvia, according to the state-owned rail operator Renfe.
The Iryo service was travelling from Malaga to Madrid, while the Alvia train was heading towards Huelva.
Investigators say it is too early to determine the cause of the accident. Renfe’s president said it happened in strange conditions and that human error is practically ruled out.
He explained that the Alvia train, travelling at about 200km per hour, either collided with the last two carriages of the derailed Iryo train or struck debris on the track.
The Iryo train had been travelling at around 110km per hour and had lost a wheel that has not yet been located.
The collision occurred roughly 20 seconds after the derailment, leaving no time to activate an emergency brake.
The rising death toll makes this the deadliest train crash in Spain since 2013, when a derailment in Santiago de Compostela killed 80 people.
In the aftermath, more than 200 train services between Madrid and the southern region of Andalusia were cancelled, affecting cities including Cordoba, Seville and Granada.
The disruption has renewed scrutiny of Spain’s vast high-speed rail network, the largest in Europe.
Officials said the track involved had been completely renovated last year at a cost of 700 million euros, and the Iryo train was less than four years old and last inspected on January 15.
As Spain mourns the victims, the sharp rise from the initial death count of 21 to 39 has deepened national shock and intensified calls for clear answers.
