MADRID (Reuters) – Two high-speed trains derailed in southern Spain on Sunday, the rail network operator said, and seven people were killed, state TV channel RTVE said, citing police sources.
The accident occurred near Adamuz, in the province of Córdoba. Police have confirmed seven deaths, RTVE said, adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 of them seriously.
Spanish police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Adif, who runs the rail network, said in a social media post: “The Iryo 6189 Malaga-(Madrid-bound) train derailed at Adamus station and hit an adjacent track. A (Madrid-bound) Huelva train traveling on an adjacent track also derailed.”
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 pm (1740 GMT), about ten minutes after the Iryo train left Córdoba for Madrid.
Iryo is a private railway operator majority-owned by Italy’s state-owned railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. A spokesman for Ferrovie dello Stato said the train involved was a Freccia 1000 and was traveling between Malaga and Madrid.
Iryo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
Andalusia’s emergency services said on social media that all rail traffic had been stopped and emergency services were on the way, including at least nine ambulances and emergency support vehicles.
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A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on the Iryo bound for Madrid. “Ten minutes after setting off (from Cordoba), the train started shaking violently and derailed from Car 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Video posted by another Iryo train passenger (also on X) showed Iryo staff wearing fluorescent jackets instructing passengers to stay in their seats in dark carriages while those trained in first aid monitored other passengers.
Crews told passengers they would be evacuated when it was safe to leave, but the safest place to be at this time was on the train. He also urged people to maintain their cellphone batteries so they can use flashlights when disembarking.
The passenger wrote: “We are fine in our carriage, but we don’t know what is going on in the other carriages. There is smoke and they are calling for a doctor.”
The local government has activated emergency plans and mobilized more resources to the accident scene. Locals posted on social media that a building would be erected in the village closest to the accident site to transport evacuated passengers.
RTVE reporter Salvador Jimenez, who was traveling on the “Iryo” train, shared photos showing the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting face up on the side of the carriage.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from the side of the stricken train that passengers used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, where they saw two people being rescued on stretchers from the overturned carriage.
“There is some uncertainty as to when we will arrive in Madrid and spend the night there, we have not heard from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s cold, but we’re here.”
(Reporting by Graham Keeley and Aislinn Laing; Additional reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Nia Williams)