Passengers wait within the corridor of Madrid prepare station on Sunday following the announcement of the suspension of service as a result of a prepare collision.
Carlos Luján/Europa Press through AP
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Carlos Luján/Europa Press through AP
BARCELONA, Spain — A high-speed prepare derailed, jumped onto the monitor in the other way and slammed into an oncoming prepare Sunday in southern Spain, killing at the very least individuals 21 and injuring dozens extra, the nation’s transport minister mentioned.
The tail finish of a night prepare between Malaga and Madrid with some 300 passengers went off the rails close to Córdoba at 7:45 p.m. native time and slammed right into a prepare with some 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva, one other southern Spanish metropolis, based on rail operator Adif.
Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente up to date the demise toll to 21 confirmed victims after midnight when he mentioned that rescues had eliminated all of the survivors. However Puente mentioned there could possibly be extra victims nonetheless to be confirmed.
Puente mentioned the causes of the crash have been unknown. He referred to as it “a truly strange” incident as a result of it occurred on a flat stretch of monitor that had been renovated in Could. He additionally mentioned the prepare that jumped the monitor was lower than 4 years outdated. That prepare belonged to the personal firm Iryo, whereas the second prepare that took the brunt of the influence of Spain’s public prepare firm Renfe.
Iryo issued an announcement saying it “deeply lamented what has happened” and that it was working with authorities to handle the state of affairs.
In line with Puente, the again a part of the primary prepare derailed and crashed into the pinnacle of the opposite prepare, knocking its first two carriages off the monitor and down a four-meter (13-foot) slope. He mentioned the worst harm was to that entrance part of the Renfe prepare.
When requested by reporters how lengthy an inquiry into the crash’s causes might take, he mentioned it could possibly be a month.
Andalusia’s regional well being chief Antonio Sanz mentioned that 73 injured passengers have been taken to 6 totally different hospitals.
Francisco Carmona, the firefighter chief of Cordoba, informed Spanish nationwide radio RNE that one of many trains was badly mangled, with at the very least 4 wagons off the rails.
The state of affairs on the crash web site “is very serious,” Sanz mentioned. “We have a very difficult night ahead.”
Salvador Jiménez, a journalist for Spanish broadcaster RTVE, was on board one of many derailed trains and informed the community by telephone that “there was a moment when it felt like an earthquake and the train had indeed derailed.”
He mentioned passengers used emergency hammers to interrupt the home windows, and that some had walked away with out severe accidents. Movies from individuals on web site present some individuals crawling out of home windows at some factors to flee the wreckage with carriages leaning at an angle.
The incident occurred within the early night and a whole bunch of survivors needed to be rescued within the darkness.
The regional Civil Safety chief, María Belén Moya Rojas, informed Canal Sur the accident occurred in an space that’s laborious to succeed in.
Native individuals have been taking blankets and water to the scene to assist the victims, she mentioned.
Excessive-speed trains, operating on an in depth nationwide community, are a well-liked solution to journey in Spain.
Spain’s navy emergency aid items joined the deployment of different rescue items. The Pink Cross additionally supplied assist to healthcare officers.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned in a publish on X that she was following “the terrible news” from Cordoba.
“Tonight you are in my thoughts,” she wrote in Spanish.
ADIF mentioned prepare providers between Madrid and cities in Andalusia wouldn’t run Monday.
