Excessive-speed practice derailment kills at the least 21 in Spain

A high-speed practice derailed in southern Spain on Sunday, leaping onto the observe in the wrong way and hitting an oncoming practice in an accident that left at the least 21 folks lifeless, authorities mentioned.

The night practice between Malaga and Madrid went off the rails and slammed right into a practice coming from Madrid to Huelva, one other southern Spanish metropolis, in keeping with the Spanish rail operator ADIF.

Spain’s Civil Guard police drive informed Agence France-Presse that at the least 21 folks had been killed. Emergency providers in Andalucia, the province the place the accident occurred, mentioned at the least 25 folks had been significantly injured.

The regional Civil Safety chief, María Belén Moya Rojas, informed native broadcaster Canal Sur that the accident occurred in an space that’s arduous to achieve.

Native folks had been taking blankets and water to the scene to assist the victims, she mentioned.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain mentioned Sunday they had been “following with nice concern the intense accident between two high-speed trains in Adamuz.”

“We lengthen our most heartfelt condolences to the kinfolk and family members of the lifeless, in addition to our love and needs for a swift restoration to the injured,” the royal palace mentioned on X.

European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned in a submit on X that she was following “the horrible information” from Cordoba.

“Tonight you’re in my ideas,” she wrote in Spanish.

ADIF mentioned practice providers between Madrid and cities in Andalucia wouldn’t run Monday.