A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain, pushing the second train off the tracks and down an embankment in a collision that police sources confirm to Reuters killed at least 21 people.
The cause for the crash is not yet known, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente tells reporters at a press conference at Atocha station in Madrid, adding it was “really strange” that a derailment should have happened on a straight stretch of track. This section of track was renewed in May, he adds.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province, about 360km (223 miles) south of the capital Madrid. A regional health chief says 18 injured people have already been transferred to hospital, some with life-threatening wounds.
State broadcaster Television Espanola reports that the driver of one of the trains, which was travelling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, and that a total of 100 people have been injured, 25 seriously.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 19, 2026
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