MADRID — A high-speed train derailed in southern Spain on Sunday, jumping onto the track in the opposite direction and hitting an oncoming train in an accident that authorities estimate left more than 20 people dead and dozens injured.
The evening train between Malaga and Madrid went off the rails and slammed into a train coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to the Spanish rail operator Adif.
Antonio Sanz, regional health minister for the Andalusia province where the crash happened, said officials told him they fear the death toll may rise above 20.
Rescue operations are ongoing, he said, adding that 73 injured passengers have been taken to six different hospitals.
The regional Civil Protection chief, María Belén Moya Rojas, told Canal Sur the accident happened in an area that is hard to reach.
Local people were taking blankets and water to the scene to help the victims, she said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that she was following “the terrible news” from Cordoba.
“Tonight you are in my thoughts,” she wrote in Spanish.
ADIF said train services between Madrid and cities in Andalucia would not run Monday.
