At least 21 people were killed and dozens more injured after a high-speed train derailed in southern Spain, veering onto a neighboring track and crashing into an oncoming train.
According to reports from the Associated Press, CNN and The New York Times, the train was traveling between Malaga and Madrid near Córdoba at around 7:45 p.m. local time on Sunday, Jan. 18, when the incident occurred, Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente said.
More than 300 passengers were onboard when the train derailed and slammed into the oncoming train, which was carrying about 200 passengers traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, Railway Infrastructure Administrator (ADIF), the public manager of the railway network, confirmed.
Puente said after midnight on Monday, Jan. 19, that rescuers had removed all of the survivors from the trains, noting that more victims could still be identified, according to AP.
Andalusian Regional Government Health Minister Antonio Sanz said that at least 73 others had been injured, per CNN.
Puente said the cause of the crash was still unknown, calling it a “truly strange” incident because the tracks — on a flat stretch of land — had been renovated in May 2025.
The derailed train, owned by private operator Iryo, was less than four years old, Puente added. The second train was operated by Spain’s public rail company, Renfe.
Puente said the rear portion of the first train came off the tracks and struck the front of the other train, forcing its first two cars off the rails and down a roughly 13-foot slope. The front section of the Renfe train sustained the heaviest damage, per AP.
“The impact has been terrible,” Puente wrote on X. “The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The fundamental priority now is to assist the victims.”
He added that investigators may need up to a month to determine what caused the derailment and collision.
Iryo said it “deeply lamented what has happened,” adding that it had activated emergency protocols and was working with authorities as the response continued, per CNN and AP.
According to AP, Córdoba fire chief Francisco Carmona told radio station RNE that one of the trains had been badly mangled and that four carriages had come off the rails.
Antonio Sanz, the regional health minister, described the situation as “very serious,” adding, “We have a very difficult night ahead,” per AP.
Salvador Jiménez, a journalist for Spanish broadcaster RTVE who was on board one of the trains, described the moment of impact during a phone interview: “There was a moment when it felt like an earthquake, and the train had indeed derailed.”
He said passengers used emergency hammers to break windows to escape, while regional Civil Protection chief María Belén Moya Rojas said the response was complicated by the remote, difficult-to-access location of the crash site.
Local residents ultimately brought blankets and water to those affected.
ADIF confirmed that train services between Madrid and the Andalusia region would not operate on Monday.
The New York Times reported that Spain ranks second worldwide in high-speed rail network length, behind China.
