Search teams work through mangled carriages as investigators probe a possible track failure on a recently renovated stretch.
ADAMUZ, Spain — Spain’s death toll rose to 39 on Monday after a high-speed train derailed and struck an oncoming train in Córdoba province the previous evening, ripping carriages open and hurling wreckage down an embankment as rescuers pulled survivors into the night.
Officials said recovery crews are still searching the site and warned the toll could climb as access improves to the most damaged cars. The collision severed service between Madrid and parts of Andalucía and triggered three days of national mourning. Spain’s rail accident commission opened a formal investigation while emergency teams and forensic staff worked to identify victims, some of whom were found far from the tracks. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the scene Monday and pledged support for families as authorities coordinated medical care and family reunification.
The crash happened around 7:45 p.m. Sunday on a straight segment near Adamuz. Authorities said the tail of a northbound train from Málaga to Madrid left the rails and moved into the opposite track, where it was struck by a southbound train. Passengers described a jolt, darkness and smoke before people began breaking windows to escape. “Everything went sideways, and then we were sliding,” said Marta R., who was in a midtrain car. She and others made their way to a nearby road, guided by phone lights, as firefighters arrived and stabilized the carriages.
Emergency officials reported dozens hospitalized, including several in intensive care, and said more than one hundred people had been treated overall. Regional authorities in Andalucía said body recovery was complicated in the cars that toppled down the slope. Police and forensic teams asked families for DNA samples to speed identifications. Rail operators said one train was run by Iryo, Spain’s private high-speed operator, while the other belonged to Renfe, the state-owned company. The line, which had been renovated in recent months, remained closed as cranes and heavy equipment cleared debris and as technicians examined the track, sleepers and signaling cabinets.
Spain’s high-speed system has been a point of national pride for decades, with no fatal passenger accidents on those lines since the network opened in 1992. The country’s deadliest rail disaster in recent memory occurred in 2013, when a train derailed on a conventional line near Santiago de Compostela, killing 80. Sunday’s collision unfolded on a flat, straight section, a detail that puzzled rail veterans who noted that human error was not immediately apparent from the preliminary timeline. The wreckage pattern, with the rear cars off the rails and the oncoming train shoved down the embankment, suggested a violent lateral impact just seconds after the first derailment.
Investigators are focusing on the precise sequence that sent the rear carriages off the track and into the opposing path. Spain’s rail accident commission is collecting data from onboard recorders, radio logs and wayside systems, and will analyze maintenance records for the trains and the recently renewed track. A technical team examined a joint between rail sections near the point where the first train’s final cars left the rails, according to people briefed on the probe. Officials cautioned that no cause has been determined and that a full report could take months. Prosecutors opened an inquiry to coordinate with accident investigators, standard practice in fatal transport incidents.
At the crash site Monday, medics moved between tarps as firefighters cut through twisted aluminum. Neighbors brought water and blankets as a line of ambulances ferried the injured toward Córdoba city. “We could hear people calling out names,” said José Luis Á., who lives near the line and ran to help with headlamps. On a ridge above the tracks, families waited for updates from police liaisons. “It’s a black day,” said Andalucía regional president Juanma Moreno, adding that flags would fly at half-staff across the region. Church bells tolled in Adamuz as the sun came up over the olive groves.
By late afternoon Monday, authorities said the death count stood at 39 and that more bodies might still be recovered in the most damaged cars. The rail corridor between Madrid and Andalucía will remain disrupted as investigators and heavy-lift crews work the scene. A preliminary briefing is expected later this week, with a formal update on casualty figures anticipated once identifications are complete.
Author note: Last updated January 19, 2026.