Jamaine Punzalan

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17688775218181768877521262.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"></span></span></span></div><p>This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media and verified by AFPTV teams in Madrid, shows emergency personnel working after a train accident in Adamuz, southern Spain, on January 18, 2026. At least 21 people died in a train accident near Adamuz, in the Spanish province of Cordoba (south), when a train derailed and collided with another convoy traveling on the opposite track, the Civil Guard told AFP. Photo by UGC/@eleanorinthesky via X/AFP</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>Spain begins three days of national mourning on Tuesday for the 40 people killed in a <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/19/train-collision-in-spain-kills-over-20-injures-dozens-0813">high-speed train crash</a> that the prime minister has vowed to investigate.</p><p>The crash late on Sunday is Spain&#x27;s deadliest train accident since 2013, when 80 people died after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.</p><p>The latest disaster took place when a train operated by rail company Iryo, travelling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region.</p><p>It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train, which also derailed.</p><p>&quot;This is a day of sorrow for all of Spain, for our entire country,&quot; Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters during a visit to Adamuz on Monday as he declared three days of mourning.</p><p>&quot;We will uncover the answer, and once the cause of this tragedy is determined, we will present it with absolute transparency.&quot;</p><p>Forty deaths have been confirmed due to the crash, the head of Andalucia&#x27;s regional government, Juan Manuel Moreno, told a news conference, raising the toll from 39.</p><p>It would take 24-48 hours &quot;to know with certainty how many deaths have resulted from this terrible accident,&quot; he added.</p><p>Heavy machinery was deployed on Monday to lift the most severely damaged train carriages and give rescuers better access to the site of the disaster.</p><p>Over 120 people were injured, with 41 still in hospitals in the nearby city of Cordoba, Moreno said.</p><p>Relatives and friends of missing passengers have turned to social media, posting photos in an effort to find them.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;EXTREMELY STRANGE&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Aerial footage of the crash site from Spain&#x27;s Guardia Civil police force showed the two trains far apart, as rescuers in high-visibility neon vests worked nearby.</p><p>Unlike the 2013 accident, the derailment occurred on a straight section of track, and the trains were travelling within the speed limit, officials said.</p><p>Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the first train to derail was &quot;practically new&quot; and the section of the track where the disaster happened had been recently renovated, making the accident &quot;extremely strange&quot;.</p><p>Train operator Iryo said the locomotive was built in 2022 and last inspected just three days before the accident. It said it &quot;veered onto the adjacent track for still unknown reasons&quot;.</p><p>The company said around 300 people were on board its service from the Andalusian city of Malaga to the capital, Madrid.</p><p>Renfe, the operator of the second train travelling to the southern city of Huelva, said it was carrying 184 passengers.</p><p>Human error has &quot;been practically ruled out&quot;, Renfe President Alvaro Fernandez Heredia told Spanish public radio RNE.</p><p>Heredia also ruled out speeding as a cause of the accident. He said both trains were traveling just over 200 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, below the 250 kilometres per hour limit for that section of track.</p><p>&quot;It must be related to Iryo&#x27;s rolling stock or an infrastructure issue,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;STRONG HIT&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Spain has Europe&#x27;s largest high-speed rail network, with more than 3,000 kilometres of dedicated tracks connecting major cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and Malaga.</p><p>Survivor Lucas Meriako, who was travelling on the first train that derailed, told La Sexta television that it looked &quot;like a horror movie&quot;.</p><p>&quot;We felt a very strong hit from behind and the feeling that the whole train was about to collapse, break... there were many injured due to the glass,&quot; he said.</p><p>In Adamuz, where white buildings gleam among orange-lined streets, residents rushed to the town hall with supplies as news of the disaster spread.</p><p>&quot;We started bringing water, blankets, everything we could,&quot; Manuel Munoz, a 60-year-old olive oil factory worker, told AFP.</p><p>Among those offering condolences were Pope Leo XIV and French President Emmanuel Macron.</p><div><iframe width="729" height="410" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6eg8RN4X6k" title="Death toll from high-speed train collision in Spain rises to 39 | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>Spain begins three days of national mourning on Tuesday for the 40 people killed in a high-speed train crash that the prime minister has vowed to investigate.</p>

Spain begins three days of national mourning on Tuesday for the 40 people killed in a high-speed train crash that the prime minister has vowed to investigate.

Spain mourns as train crash toll rises to 40

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Spain mourns as train crash toll rises to 40

Agence France-Presse

Published Jan 20, 2026 10:54 AM PHT

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