A catastrophic high-speed train derailment and subsequent collision in southern Spain on Sunday night has resulted in the deaths of at least 39 people and left 122 injured, with 12 in intensive care. The incident near Adamuz in the province of Cordoba, approximately 360 km south of Madrid, marks one of Europe's worst railway accidents in the past 80 years and the deadliest in Spain since 2013.

The tragedy unfolded when an Iryo train, traveling from Malaga to Madrid at 110 kph, derailed. Twenty seconds later, an oncoming Renfe Alvia train, bound for Huelva and moving at 200 kph, collided either with the final two carriages of the Iryo train or with debris on the line. Preliminary investigations suggest the Iryo train lost a wheel that has not yet been located. Approximately 400 passengers were on board the two trains operated by Iryo and state-run Renfe's Alvia services.

Rescue operations were significantly complicated by the remote, hilly, olive-growing location of the crash, accessible only by a single-track road, hindering the entry and exit of emergency vehicles. Firefighters described the work as