Spain's train derailment death toll climbs to 40 as investigators search for answers

Spain's train derailment death toll climbs to 40 as investigators search for answers

Darryl Coote

Tue, January 20, 2026 at 3:16 AM UTC

3 min read

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UPI — A screen grab from a video made available by the Spanish Civil Guard shows agents gathering evidence at the site of the wreckage where, on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at least 40 people died after a high-speed train carrying more than 300 passengers derailed and collided with another train traveling in the opposite direction on an adjacent track near the town of Adamuz, Cordoba, Spain. Image by Guardia Civil/EPA

Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The death toll from Sunday's train derailment and collision in southern Spain rose to 40 on Monday, as investigations continued probing the cause of the incident, and dozens of injured remained hospitalized.

The incident occurred Sunday night in the southern Spanish town of Adamuz, located in Cordoba province about 230 miles southwest of the capital Madrid.

Officials said a train operated by private company Iryo was traveling from Malaga on Spain's southern coast to Madrid with about 300 people on board when it derailed at about 7:45 p.m. local time Sunday, jumping onto adjacent tracks.

The derailed cars collided with a second train operated by state-run Renfe that was traveling in the opposite direction from Madrid to Huelva, forcing it off the tracks and sending its two front cars down a 13-foot embankment.

Passengers were trapped in the cars, and rescue operations were launched.

The death toll has slowly climbed since, with the government of Andalusia, a large autonomous region of southern Spain that includes Cordoba, stating Monday night in a statement that it had risen to 40, up one death from early Monday.

However, the death toll may continue to rise. Juanma Moreno, the president of Andalusia, earlier said the count was not final.

Of the 41 patients still hospitalized, 13 remain in intensive care units at five regional hospitals, including one minor.

A total of 122 people, including 117 adults and five children, have received medical treatment, with 81 now having been discharged.

According to the local government, officials plan to remove the last two cars of the Iryo train using a crane. Once completed, a second crane will be able to proceed with removing the other train.

The cause of the initial derailment is under investigation.

"We have been able to confirm the severity of what happened and the terrible consequences. But we do not know, nor does anyone know at this moment, the causes," Transport Minister Oscar Puente said in a statement on X.

Officials have said neither train was speeding on the straight stretch of rail where the incident occurred and human error has been ruled out, leading to questions about the track, which underwent maintenance as in May.

Speaking to RTVE, Puente said there is a break in the track, but it is difficult to know if it was the cause of the derailment or a consequence.

"There is one certain fact: There is broken rail at many points," he told the national radio and television public broadcaster.

"We have to see what actually happened."

The Rail Accident Investigation Commission, known as CIAF in Spanish, is leading the investigation.

President Pedro Sanchez of Spain has declared three days of mourning for the incident, beginning at midnight Tuesday.

"It is true that Spanish society, like all of us, asks itself what happened, how it happened and how such a tragedy could occur. I am convinced that time and the work of the technicians will provide us with the answer," he said in a statement.

"And that is one of the messages I would also like to convey to the Spanish public: that we will arrive at the truth, that we will know what happened and that when that answer regarding the origin and cause of this tragedy is known, it will be communicated to public opinion, to citizens, with absolute transparency and absolute clarity, through the media."

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