Two passenger trains collided after derailment near Adamuz on recently upgraded track section, prompting nationwide service suspensions and urgent investigation
A collision between two passenger trains in southern Spain has killed at least 39 people and injured 152, according to state broadcaster RTVE citing police sources on Monday. The incident occurred Sunday when a high-speed Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid derailed and struck an oncoming Renfe train headed from Madrid to Huelva near the town of Adamuz in Córdoba province.
The collision has triggered Spain's largest rail emergency response in over a decade and raised immediate questions about how a derailment could occur on a straight section of recently renovated track. Transport Minister Óscar Puente described the incident on the modernized infrastructure as "extremely strange," underscoring the urgent need to determine what caused the initial derailment.
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Emergency services deployed more than 200 personnel to the crash site, including Red Cross teams, Civil Guard units, and specialized rescue crews. The Civil Guard confirmed that 30 of the injured remain hospitalized, with several in critical condition. Triage operations continued through Sunday night as responders worked to extract passengers from severely damaged carriages on both trains.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez traveled to the scene Monday morning and announced the immediate suspension of all high-speed rail services in the affected region pending a comprehensive safety review. Spain's rail infrastructure operator ADIF has secured the site and begun preliminary investigations into the track condition and signaling systems. Both train operators—the private company Iryo and state-owned Renfe—have grounded their fleets on the Málaga-Madrid corridor indefinitely.
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This marks Spain's deadliest rail disaster since the 2013 Santiago de Compostela crash that killed 80 people, and the first major incident involving the country's expanded high-speed network since its privatization allowed operators like Iryo to compete with Renfe. With Spain operating one of Europe's most extensive high-speed rail systems—over 3,400 kilometers of track—investigators face intense pressure to determine whether the collision represents an isolated mechanical failure or exposes systemic vulnerabilities in recently upgraded infrastructure. Results from black box data and track analysis are expected within 48 hours.
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