A serious train crash occurred on Sunday evening (18/1) in southern Spain, in the Adamuz area of Córdoba, when two trains collided and derailed. According to emergency services, at least 21 people lost their lives, while 73 were injured, of whom 24 are hospitalized in serious condition, including four minors.
A witness to the accident told the public television network TVE that one of the carriages of the first train was completely overturned. The death toll was confirmed by Andalusia’s Health Minister, Antonio Sanz, emphasizing however that it could increase, as two or three carriages were thrown and ended up on a slope about four meters high. Due to the accident, it was decided to suspend rail traffic across the entire high-speed network connecting Andalusia with the rest of Spain.
Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente warned via X that “the collision was terrible” and there is a risk that the toll could become even heavier, given the “very worrying information” about the accident.
Imágenes del interior de uno de los trenes que ha descarrilado en Córdoba
Un trabajador se dirige a los pasajeros para pedir colaboración y tranquilidad tras el accidente pic.twitter.com/8NPsW3AOrx
— EL MUNDO (@elmundoes) January 18, 2026
He clarified that 30 of the injured who were transported to hospitals are in very serious condition. The minister also reported that 53 people are considered particularly “affected,” as they were on the first two units of the Alvia train.
🔴 Al menos dos fallecidos, según fuentes de la Guardia Civil, en un accidente ferroviario en Córdoba
▪️ Un tren Iryo Málaga con destino Madrid ha descarrilado y ha sacado de la vía a otro convoy a la altura de la localidad de Adamuz
Última hora en https://t.co/lMToc173VA pic.twitter.com/z0kdj8B4x0
— Radio 5 (@radio5_rne) January 18, 2026
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his most sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims of the train derailment in Adamuz (Córdoba), describing it as “a night of profound pain” for the country.
Hoy es una noche de profundo dolor para nuestro país por el trágico accidente ferroviario en Adamuz.
Quiero expresar mis más sinceras condolencias a las familias y seres queridos de las víctimas.
Ninguna palabra puede aliviar un sufrimiento tan grande, pero quiero que sepan que…
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) January 18, 2026
Spain: How the railway accident occurred in Andalusia – Causes of derailment unknown
According to the El País newspaper, the deadly railway accident was caused by the derailment of two high-speed trains in the Adamuz area of Córdoba, as reported by Civil Guard sources and the Andalusian emergency number 112. Specifically, an Iryo company train derailed shortly after 7:30 PM and ended up on the track where an Alvia train was moving in the opposite direction.
Emergency services were immediately mobilized and rushed to the scene to rescue passengers. The Iryo train was carrying approximately 300 people, while the causes that led to the derailment remain unknown so far.
How the accident happened
Adif company reported that the Iryo train had departed at 6:40 PM from Málaga bound for Puerta de Atocha station in Madrid. The accident occurred at 7:39 PM, at the height of Adamuz, according to a railway company spokesperson. The carriages that were hit were numbers 6 and 8 of the other train, which was heading towards Huelva. According to official sources, Renfe has not been able to contact the driver of that train.
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno (PSOE), was among the first to arrive at the accident site along with the Municipal Police and reported seeing at least one dismembered body several meters away from the collision point. “I saw a dismembered passenger. We arrived first and there was a body cut in two. There was no light, it was night. The scene is dantesque,” he describes in conversation with El País. Moreno estimates that the collision was not head-on but “lateral,” as he did not see crushed carriages. “I believe they were not moving on the same track, but visibility is not good. Now the mayors and residents of the area have devoted ourselves to helping passengers,” he recounts, visibly shaken.
Estamos volviendo de Córdoba en @iryo_eu y ha descarrilado el tren. Los de nuestro vagón estamos bien, los del resto de vagones no lo sabemos. Hay humo y están pidiendo un médico 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/QT6Q6KAfZ5
— Adri Vélez 🦌🇵🇸 (@ibuprofeno600mg) January 18, 2026
Transport Minister Óscar Puente went to the Renfe H-24 emergency operations center at Madrid’s Atocha station to monitor developments. Ministry sources, informed about the investigation, explain that the causes will take time to clarify, but so far it appears that the Iryo train, “for unknown reasons,” derailed in the last carriages on a straight section of the track. Leaving the track, it partially invaded the parallel track at the fatal moment when a train from Madrid to Huelva was coming from the opposite direction, which crashed into those last carriages. Puente provided updates through his social media and characterized the information that became known late in the evening as “extremely serious.” “The collision was terrible, resulting in the first two units of the Renfe train being thrown off,” he reported. “The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. Priority is providing assistance to the injured,” he concluded.
“We thought it was just a derailment, but when we got out we saw the carriages deformed”
In an official statement, Iryo company expressed its “deepest sorrow for what happened” and reported that it activated “all emergency protocols.” Passengers from both trains were evacuated, according to Adif. The railway administrator also confirmed that traffic between the capital and Córdoba, Seville, Málaga and Huelva will remain suspended throughout Monday.
“There are many injured, I’m still shaking,” recounts 33-year-old María San José, passenger of carriage 6 of the train from Málaga to Madrid, after visiting a friend. Carriages 7 and 8 collided with the front section of the other train. She describes that suddenly they began to feel intense vibrations: “And many impacts, impacts everywhere; luggage started falling, until the train stopped,” she explains. “We thought it was just a derailment, but when we got out we saw the deformed carriages and two carriages of the other train overturned,” she adds. At 10:40 PM she was with dozens of other passengers, about six kilometers from Adamuz, in the middle of nowhere, waiting for a bus. “We don’t know anything; we still don’t understand what exactly happened or how many might be dead,” she says.
Andalusian 112 announced the dispatch of six mobile intensive care units of 061, two heavy patient transport units, two logistics support vehicles, three conventional ambulances, five scheduled transport ambulances and two Red Cross ambulances. The Andalusian government suspended all official events.
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