At least 39 people have died, and more than 170 have been injured after two high-speed trains collided in Spain.
A train bound for the Spanish capital, Madrid, crossed into an adjacent track, hitting a train heading to the port city of Huelva in the Andalusia region.
The Huelva-bound train derailed on impact while travelling at 124 mph (200 km/h) and plunged down a railway embankment at Adamuz in Cordoba.
The trains were carrying four hundred passengers and staff, with a number still trapped in the mangled wreckage.
Emergency services said the collision killed 39 people and 75 people are in hospital, including four children who are seriously injured.
It is believed the accident occurred near the town of Admuz in the Cordoba province at around 7.45pm on Sunday (6.45p GMT), just 10 minutes after the Madrid-bound train had left Málaga.
Videos on social media appear to show smoke inside the carriage, and standing passengers crowded inside the train, with some seeking medical assistance for those severely injured.
Recounting what happened, Bianca Birleanu, 23, from Huelva, who was travelling on the Alvia train from Madrid to Huelva, said: ‘We felt the first jolt and, in a fraction of a second, another very strong one.
She told Spain’s El Pais newspaper: ‘The table in front of our seat fell on top of us, the lights went out, and the carriage roof collapsed.
A Madrid-bound passenger, José, told public broadcaster Canal Sur: ‘There were people and screaming, calling for doctors.’
Emergency services and firefighters were rushed to the scene after multiple casualties were reported.
Córdoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE: ‘We have even had to remove a dead person to be able to reach someone alive. It is hard, tricky work.’
Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente called the crash a ‘truly strange incident’, saying it happened on a flat stretch of track that was renovated in May.
He added that railway experts consulted by the government ‘are extremely baffled by the accident’.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the crash on Sunday was a ‘night of deep pain for our country’.
He wrote on X: ‘I want to express my most sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.
‘No words can alleviate such immense suffering, but I want them to know that the entire country stands with them in this extremely difficult moment.
‘All emergency services are working in a coordinated manner without rest.’
Carina Mejias, a member of Spain’s Congress of Deputies, shared her well wishes to those injured and claimed that the derailment was a ‘direct consequence of the government’s negligence’, citing ‘years of lack of investment, maintenance, and oversight’.
She added: ‘The insecurity in Spanish railways is a matter of political responsibility. And we are going to demand it.’
Adif, the state-owned body that manages Spain’s railway infrastructure, said services between Madrid and Andalusia have been suspended and passengers were evacuated.
It is not yet known what caused the derailment, but an investigation by local authorities remains ongoing.
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