Investigators examine track after Adamuz train collision kills at least 41

Spanish investigators are focusing on whether a problem with the track caused a collision between two high-speed trains near Adamuz, a town near Córdoba, that killed at least 41 people on Sunday. Authorities said 23 autopsies had been completed but only five bodies had been definitively identified by fingerprint, and the police had received missing‑person reports for 40 people.

Officials said a privately operated Madrid‑bound train partly derailed, with two cars falling onto the opposite track and being struck by an incoming Renfe train. The Guardia Civil released a photograph showing investigators examining a stretch of track, and the Commission for the Investigation of Railway Accidents said it was examining the general condition of the rail as a possible cause.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said there had been “an initial break” in the track but added that “no technician is yet able to say whether it is a cause or a consequence” of the derailment. Survivors described carriages vibrating and luggage tumbling, and a preliminary report said the second train’s first two cars fell down a 12‑foot embankment after striking the derailed carriages about 20 seconds later, around 7:45 p.m.

The Madrid‑bound train, carrying about 300 people, continued for hundreds of meters before stopping; residents and local officials have said they helped evacuate the injured.

Key Topics

World, Adamuz Train Crash, Cordoba, Renfe, Guardia Civil, Óscar Puente