Home > World > World

Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, broadcaster reports seven people killed

Published: 19 Jan. 2026, 09:03

This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media and verified by AFP-TV teams in Madrid, shows emergency personnel working after a train accident in Adamuz, southern Spain, on Jan. 18. [AFP/YONHAP]

Two high-speed trains derailed on Sunday in southern Spain, the rail network operator said, and state-run television channel RTVE said seven people had died, citing police sources.

The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. Seven people have been confirmed dead by police, RTVE said, adding that 100 people have been injured, 25 seriously.

Spanish police did not immediately respond to request for comment from Reuters.

"The Iryo 6189 Malaga - [to Madrid] train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The [Madrid] to Huelva train which was travelling on the adjacent track has also derailed," said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.

Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m., about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.

Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train, which was travelling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.

Iryo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Relatives of victims arrive seeking information about the derailment at Huelva train station in Huelva, Spain, on Jan. 18. At least 20 people were killed and several were injured, with others trapped, according to the Andalusian 112 Emergency Service, after the derailment of two high-speed trains in the municipality of Adamuz in Cordoba. [EPA/YONHAP]

Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.

Andalusia emergency services said on social media that all rail traffic had been halted and emergency services were on their way, including at least nine ambulances and emergency support vehicles.

A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo to Madrid. "Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out."

Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers.

The staffer told passengers they would be evacuated when it was safe to leave, but at that moment the safest place was on the train. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.

Emergency personnel are seen working after a train accident in Adamuz, southern Spain, on Jan. 18. [AFP/YONHAP]

The passenger wrote: "In our carriage we're well but we don't know about the other carriages. There's smoke and they're calling for a doctor."

The regional government has activated emergency protocols to mobilize more resources to the accident site. Locals posted on social media that a building would be set up in the village nearest the crash for evacuated passengers to be taken to.

Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upward.

Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.

"There's a certain uncertainty about when we'll get to Madrid, where we'll spend the night, we've had no message from the train company yet," he said. "It's very cold but here we are."

Reuters