Two high-speed trains collided in southern Spain, causing at least 43 deaths and dozens of injuries, the local government said.
The accident in Adamuz, near the city of Córdoba, was Spain’s worst rail disaster in more than a decade.
Here’s what we know about the incident so far.
Where did the accident occur?
[BBC]
The accident occurred at around 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT) on Sunday, about an hour before a train operated by private company Iryo departed Malaga for Madrid.
The last three cars of the Iryo train (six to eight cars) derailed and crossed onto the opposite track.
Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the carriages collided with an oncoming train from south Madrid to Huelva, operated by state company Renfe, forcing the train onto an embankment next to the tracks.
Most of the dead and injured were in the front carriage of the Renfe train bound for Huelva.
According to Renfe, there were about 400 passengers and staff on both trains.
[BBC]
What do survivors say?
Lucas Merayo, who was traveling in the fifth carriage of the Madrid-bound Iryo train, told the BBC that the road became very bumpy about an hour into the journey. Passengers were frightened and the carriage fell silent, he said, “and then we heard a crash” and the train stopped.
The luggage fell and the lights went out. He said they then began hearing agonizing sounds and screams coming from the three derailed cars behind them.
He and his girlfriend were not injured, but people were shocked and crying, and some panicked. A nurse next to him answered the call for medical volunteers, and when she returned from the sixth car, she told him someone had died.
Passengers who survived the derailment broke the glass and escaped along the tracks. Passengers helped each other land, and he saw seriously injured people with bleeding heads and makeshift bandages wrapped around their bodies.
Lucas Melayo said the first to arrive on the scene were Adamuzians, some in pajamas, who offered to transport the injured.
They were evacuated by bus two hours later and Lucas eventually returned home to Madrid on Monday morning, crying while holding his eight-year-old son.
“It’s really, really shocking and overwhelming that I’m alive when everyone else is dead,” said the actor and influencer from Argentina.
He said the experience of the accident “will always stay with me.”
Because it was getting late, he didn’t realize the oncoming train had fallen into the embankment until he saw the news on the news.
The Spanish Civil Guard arrives on site to assess the situation and begin the assessment process [Spanish Guardia Civil / Handout via Reuters]
Juanma Moreno, president of the Andalucia regional government, told local outlet Canal Sur that they had to bring in “heavy machinery” to “actually lift” parts of the second train, which “carried the worst part of the accident.”
“The problem is that the carriage is twisted, so the metal is twisted along with the people inside,” Cordoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.
“We even have to remove the dead to find the living. It’s a difficult and tricky job,” he added.
Rescuers continued to search the wreckage until the 43rd victim was discovered on Wednesday.
What caused the crash?
What caused the train to derail is unknown. Transportation Secretary Oscar Puente called the accident “extremely bizarre” and said all rail experts consulted by the government were “very baffled” by the accident.
An investigation has been launched but is expected to take at least a month to determine exactly what happened.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marasca quickly ruled out the possibility of sabotage but said all other scenarios were being considered.
The person in charge of Renfe “ruled out” the possibility that the accident occurred due to excessive speed or human error. Alvaro Fernandez Heredia said that even if an error occurred, the system within the train would fix it and both trains were traveling at the maximum speed limit.
Investigators have been focusing on a 30cm gap in a straight section of track where the Iryo train passed, and the transport minister said they were assessing whether the fracture was a “cause or consequence” of the accident.
Óscar Puente confirmed reports that coin-sized grooves were found in the wheels of the first five cars of the “Iryo” train, which passed safely over the tracks before three cars derailed. He added that two or three trains that passed over the tracks not too long ago had similar dents.
Experts said a faulty welding on the track could have caused it to break.
Meanwhile, El Pais published records of calls made by the Iryo driver and the Renfe train conductor to the Madrid control center.
The Iryo driver was initially unaware that his train had been involved in a serious accident. The control center was unable to contact the driver of the Renfe train and contacted the conductor, who said “I have blood on my head. I don’t know if I can contact the train driver”.
[BBC]
Who are the victims?
The 43 people who died in the accident have not yet been formally identified.
María del Carmen Abril, a teacher who was returning from a 50th birthday party in Madrid when she was among the victims, told the BBC that she was one of the victims.
Jose Manuel Muñoz described Abril as a “lovable, generous, affectionate person who loved flowers and was always trying to solve other people’s problems.”
Bolivian national Victor Luis Terán died on a train heading south to Huelva after his plans changed at the last minute and he took an earlier train, his sister-in-law said.
A total of 123 people were injured. As of Wednesday morning, 37 people remained in hospital, including four children. Nine people are in intensive care.
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