A high-speed train has derailed, jumped onto the track in the opposite direction and slammed into an oncoming train in southern Spain, killing at least 39 people and injuring dozens more.
The tail end of an evening train travelling from Malaga to Madrid with some 300 passengers went off the rails near Cordoba and slammed into a train with about 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.
The death toll rose to at least 39 with 152 people injured, state broadcaster RTVE reported, citing the Guardia civil police force.
More than 200 trains between Madrid and the southern Andalucia region — including major cities Cordoba, Seville and Granada — have been cancelled throughout Monday, according to RTVE.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has cleared out his agenda for the day, his office said in a statement on Monday.
Two high-speed trains carrying hundreds of passengers crashed head-on in southern Spain. Source: AFP / X/@ELEANORINTHESKY
Members of Spain's Civil Guard and Civil Defence were also on site working in the cold, cloudless Sunday night (local time).
Andalusia regional president Juanma Moreno said emergency workers would work all night to remove bodies from the wreckage.
"We have a very difficult night ahead," Andalusia's regional health chief Antonio Sanz said.
Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente said the cause of the crash, at 7.45pm local time on Sunday, was unknown.
He called it "a truly strange" incident because it happened on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated in May.
He also said the train that jumped the track was less than four years old. That train belonged to the private company Iryo, while the second train, which took the brunt of the impact, was part of Spain's public train company Renfe.
Iryo issued a statement saying it "deeply lamented what has happened" and it was working with authorities to manage the situation.
'Like a horror movie'
Lucas Meriako, who was travelling on the first train that derailed, told LaSexta television that "this looks like a horror movie".
"We felt a very strong hit from behind and the feeling that the whole train was about to collapse, break ... there were many injured due to the glass," he told Agence France-Presse.
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told EL PAÍS newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident 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.
According to Puente, the back part of the first train derailed and crashed into the head of the other train, knocking its first two carriages off the track and down a four-metre slope. He said the worst damage was to the front section of the Renfe train.
When asked by reporters how long an inquiry into the crash's cause could take, he said it could be a month.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday said Spain was enduring a "night of deep pain" after the train accident. Source: EPA / Salas
He said passengers used emergency hammers to break the windows, and some had walked away without serious injuries. Videos from the scene show people crawling out of windows to escape the wreckage with carriages leaning at an angle.
The crash occurred in the early evening near the village of Adamuz and hundreds of survivors had to be rescued in the darkness.
Francisco Carmona, the firefighter chief of Cordoba, told Spanish national radio RNE that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four wagons off the rails.
Spain's military emergency relief units joined the deployment of other rescue units.
"Tonight is one of deep sadness for our country," Sánchez wrote on social media platform X. "I want to express my sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims."
Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia also expressed their condolences and concern on social media.
Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe for trains moving over 250km/h, with more than 3,100km of track, according to the European Union.
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