At least 21 people were killed after a high-speed train derailed and struck another train in southern Spain on Sunday, according to local authorities and media reports. (Credit: @eleanorinthesky via X)
Deadly high-speed train derailment kills 39, injures 100 more in Spain: report
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At least 39 people were killed and dozens more were injured after a high-speed train derailed and struck another train in southern Spain on Sunday evening, according to reports.
The crash happened at around 7:45 p.m. local time near the town of Adamuz in Córdoba province, when the initial derailment forced a second train off the tracks. Andalusian regional leader Juan Moreno said 75 passengers were hospitalized, 15 in serious condition, according to The Associated Press.
One of the train drivers was among those killed, according to Reuters.
Spain’s rail infrastructure operator, Adif, said the Iryo 6189 Malaga-to-Madrid train derailed and crashed onto an adjacent track, causing a second train traveling from Madrid to Huelva to also derail.
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The crash happened about 10 minutes after the Iryo train departed Córdoba.
The Iryo train was identified as a Freccia 1000 train carrying more than 300 passengers, while the other train was operated by Renfe and had approximately 100 people on board, Reuters reported.
One woman, who said she was a passenger on the Iryo train, described chaotic scenes during the derailment.
"Ten minutes after departing, the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out," she wrote on X.
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Passengers reported climbing out of smashed windows, with some using emergency hammers to break the windows.
Videos posted on social media showed emergency responders assisting people as they climbed out through train windows.
The Spanish Red Cross set up a help center in the town of Adamuz, located near the crash site, to offer assistance to emergency services and people asking for information.
Rail services between Madrid and Andalusia were subsequently suspended, according to Reuters.
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Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the cause of the crash was unknown. He called it "a truly strange" incident since it happened on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated last spring.
The deadly derailment comes just days after a separate rail disaster in Thailand, where at least 22 people were killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a moving passenger train, causing it to derail and catch fire.
Fox News Digital's Michael Sinkewicz, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sophia Compton is a Writer at Fox News Digital. Sophia was previously a business reporter covering finance, energy and tourism and has experience as a TV news producer. She graduated with a journalism degree in 2021 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.