Passengers wait within the corridor of Madrid prepare station on Sunday, Jan.18, following the announcement of the suspension of service attributable to an accident wherein two trains derailed in Cordoba. AP-Yonhap
BARCELONA, Spain — A high-speed prepare derailed, jumped onto the monitor in the wrong 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 stated.
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, in response to rail operator Adif.
Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente up to date the loss of life toll to 21 confirmed victims after midnight when he stated that rescues had eliminated all of the survivors. However Puente stated there could possibly be extra victims nonetheless to be confirmed.
Puente stated the causes of the crash had been unknown. He known as it “a really unusual” incident as a result of it occurred on a flat stretch of monitor that had been renovated in Might. He additionally stated the prepare that jumped the monitor was lower than 4 years outdated.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 affect of Spain’s public prepare firm Renfe.
This video seize taken from UGC pictures posted on social media and verified by AFPTV groups in Madrid, reveals emergency personnel working after a prepare accident in Adamuz, southern Spain, Jan. 18. AFP-Yonhap
Iryo issued an announcement saying it “deeply lamented what has occurred” and that it was working with authorities to handle the state of affairs.
In accordance with Puente, the again a part of the primary prepare derailed and crashed into the top of the opposite prepare, knocking its first two carriages off the monitor and down a four-meter (13-foot) slope. He stated the worst injury 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 stated it could possibly be a month.
Andalusia’s regional well being chief Antonio Sanz stated that 73 injured passengers have been taken to 6 totally different hospitals. A few of
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 “could be very critical,” Sanz stated. “We now have a really tough evening forward.”
Individuals affected by a lethal prepare derailment are transferred and handled on the Caseta Municipal within the city of Adamuz, after a high-speed prepare derailed and collided with one other approaching prepare close to Cordoba, Spain, Jan. 18. Reuters-Yonhap
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 second when it felt like an earthquake and the prepare had certainly derailed.”
He stated passengers used emergency hammers to interrupt the home windows, and that some had walked away with out critical 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 arduous to achieve.
Native individuals had been taking blankets and water to the scene to assist the victims, she stated.
Excessive-speed trains, working on an intensive nationwide community, are a preferred technique to journey in Spain.
Spain’s navy emergency aid models joined the deployment of different rescue models. The Purple Cross additionally offered assist to healthcare officers.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen stated in a submit on X that she was following “the horrible information” from Cordoba.
“Tonight you might be in my ideas,” she wrote in Spanish.
ADIF stated prepare companies between Madrid and cities in Andalusia wouldn’t run Monday.
