Spain: 39 Dead in High-Speed Train Crash

At least 39 people have died in a train collision in southern Spain and dozens more have been injured in the country's worst rail crash in more than a decade, Spain's Civil Guard has said.

Carriages on a Madrid-bound train derailed and crossed over to the opposite tracks, colliding with an oncoming train in Adamuz on Sunday evening.

Four hundred passengers and staff were onboard both trains, the rail networks said. Emergency services treated 122 people, with 43, including four children, still in hospital. Of those, 12 adults and one child are in intensive care.

Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the death toll "is not yet final", as officials launched an investigation.

The force of the crash pushed the carriages of the second train into an embankment, Puente said. He added that most of those killed and injured were in the front carriages of the second train, which was travelling south from Madrid to Huelva.

Rescue teams said the twisted wreckage of the trains made it difficult to recover people trapped inside the carriages.

Footage from the scene appears to show some train carriages had tipped over on their sides. Rescue workers can be seen scaling the train to pull people out of the lopsided train doors and windows.

Iryo, a private rail company that operated the journey from Málaga, said around 300 passengers were on board the train that first derailed, while the other train – operated by the state-funded firm Renfe – had around 100 passengers.

Advanced medical posts were set up for impacted passengers to be treated for injuries and transferred to hospital. Adif said it set up spaces for relatives of the victims at Atocha, Seville, Córdoba, Málaga and Huelva stations.

The Spanish Red Cross has deployed emergency support services to the scene, while also offering counselling to families nearby.