Train accident in Spain

Death toll rises: 39 dead and 150 injured

The death toll is rising after the train crash in southern Spain that occurred on Sunday evening. At least 39 people have died and over 150 are injured, the transport authority says, reports Cadena Ser. Five people are said to be very seriously injured and 24 are seriously injured.

RTVE writes that four of the injured are minors.

The accident occurred when two high-speed trains collided and derailed in Adamuz outside Córdoba. One of the trains is said to have switched tracks for unknown reasons and crashed into the side of a train coming in the opposite direction on the track next to it.

Hundreds of passengers were on board the trains.

Minister: “Extremely strange” accident on new tracks

Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente describes Sunday’s train accident in southern Spain as “extremely strange,” writes El País.

– At the moment, we can’t even speculate whether it’s due to the trains or the rails. We don’t know.

At a press conference, Puente said that the accident occurred on a straight stretch of track whose tracks were renovated as recently as last spring at a cost of 700 million euros. The trains themselves are also said to be less than four years old.

At least 39 people died in the accident and more than 150 were injured, according to Spanish authorities.

Train drivers’ union raised the alarm about broken tracks six months before the accident

The Spanish train drivers’ union Semaf raised the alarm in August last year about the tracks where Sunday’s accident took place, reports Reuters.

The news agency has seen a letter the union sent to state train operator Adif in which the train drivers described worn tracks, dents in the rails and imbalance in the electrical wiring that caused repeated breakdowns.

Adif has reported problems on the route ten times since 2022 on its X account.

Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente has stated that the tracks on the route were renovated last spring at a cost of 700 million euros, according to El País.

“That is very little money for almost 400 kilometers of rails,” Rafael Escudero, general secretary of the train union, told El Mundo.