Daily London
A train travelling from Malaga in the country’s south to Madrid derailed in the town of Adamuz, causing it to go onto the other track, according to a statement from ADIF, Spain’s rail operator.
“Another train, travelling from Madrid to Huelva, was also travelling on the adjacent track and derailed as well,” the statement read.
A Spanish interior ministry official has told media more than 20 people had been killed.
It is not known how many people on each train have died.
It is believed there were about 300 people on the train that derailed, and 200 on the one travelling from Madrid.
Emergency services initially stated 25 people had severe injuries, with the number of injured now rising to 73.
They have been taken to six different hospitals, according to the official.
Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente said all of the survivors had been removed from the site, but said there was a chance more victims could be found.
Puente said the causes of the crash were unknown. He called it “a truly strange” incident because it happened on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated in May. He also said the train that jumped the track was less than four years old.
According to Puente, the back part of the first train derailed and crashed into the head of the other train, knocking its first two carriages off the track and down a four-metre slope.
He said the worst damage was to the front section of the train that was coming from Madrid.
The regional Civil Protection chief, María Belén Moya Rojas, told Canal Sur that the accident happened in an area that is hard to reach.
Salvador Jiménez, a journalist for Spanish broadcaster RTVE was on board one of the derailed trains and told the network by phone that “there was a moment when it felt like an earthquake and the train had indeed derailed.”
He said passengers used emergency hammers to break the windows, and that some had walked away without serious injuries. Videos from people on site show some people crawling out of windows at some points to escape the wreckage with carriages leaning at an angle.
The incident occurred in the early evening and hundreds of survivors had to be rescued in the darkness.
The train that derailed was operated by Iryo, a private high-speed rail operator owned by Italy’s state-owned rail company, a Spanish regional airline, and the Spanish infrastructure investment fund.
The second train was operated by Renfe, Spain’s public train company.
– Reported with Associated Press.
