Latest news 42 dead in train crash in Spain - search for missing person
Two days after the serious train accident in Spain, 42 bodies have been recovered. During the course of the day, three bodies were found in the wreckage of train carriages, the regional government of Andalusia announced on Platform X. However, the number of people reported missing was 43 and the search continued in the wagons, some of which were badly damaged.
20.01.2026, 16:18
20.01.2026, 20:40
SDA
Dozens of people were also injured in the collision between two high-speed trains on Sunday evening, some of them seriously. Nine of them were still being treated in intensive care units, the regional government announced.
Regarding the possible cause of one of the worst train accidents in the country's history, the minister said that track damage or a fault on one of the trains could not be ruled out. But "all hypotheses are still open".
Uneven tracks: Trains between Madrid and Barcelona slower
Meanwhile, the Spanish rail network operator Adif has reduced the maximum speed for trains on a section of the country's most important connection between Madrid and Barcelona to 160 kilometers per hour. According to Adif, train drivers had reported unevenness in the rails, which would now be investigated in the coming night. The journey time of the trains, which previously ran almost continuously at 300 kilometers per hour, will be extended by around 30 minutes to three hours, Spanish media reported.
Relatives complain about slow information about victims
Identifying the victims proved difficult. Grande-Marlaska said on Monday evening that seven victims had been identified so far. The authorities asked families for DNA samples to speed up the identification process. Relatives complained on television about the lack of and slow pace of information about the fate of the missing. The police used search dogs to check the wagons involved in the accident for possible other victims.
Federal Foreign Office: There are also German victims
Germany's Foreign Ministry, the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, announced on Monday evening: "Unfortunately, we have to assume that German nationals are also among those affected. There is currently no reliable information on the number." The authorities are in close contact with the local authorities in order to clarify the identities of the victims. It initially remained unclear whether the German victims were dead or injured.
The accident occurred on Sunday evening near the municipality of Adamuz, around 30 kilometers northeast of the city of Córdoba in Andalusia, which is also popular with tourists. The last two carriages of an Iryo high-speed train operated by the Italian company Trenitalia, which serves several routes in Spain, derailed at a speed of more than 200 kilometers per hour for unknown reasons and crashed into the adjacent track.
At exactly the same time, a high-speed train from the Spanish rail company Renfe, which was also traveling at more than 200 kilometers per hour, was passing in the opposite direction. The Renfe train was thrown off the tracks by the collision with the wagons of the Iryo train and toppled several hundred meters down an embankment. The maximum permitted speed on this recently renovated section of track was set at 250. The train whose wagons derailed had only been put into service in 2022.
Experts are still puzzling over the cause of the accident
The police released a video showing a broken rail. Transport Minister Óscar Puente emphasized that it must be investigated whether the broken rail was the cause or consequence of the accident. According to the information provided, it could be weeks or even months before there is any definite information about the cause of the disaster.
The Spanish royal couple traveled to the scene of the accident and met with relatives and rescue workers. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia had returned early from Athens, where they had attended the funeral of Irene of Greece, the sister of the former Spanish Queen Sofía.
The fate of a six-year-old is particularly distressing
Spanish media reported on the difficult fate of a six-year-old who was the only one of her family to survive. She wandered among the rubble after the disaster until she was brought to safety by two first responders, as the Spanish newspaper "El País" reported.
While there was initially hope that her parents, her twelve-year-old brother and her cousin might have survived, there was later sad certainty. They had died in the wreckage of one of the crashed trains.
At first there was hope that the brother would also have survived
The girl's grandmother waited at the train station in Huelva, where the crashed train was heading, for news from relatives. At times, there were rumors that the brother had also survived and was being treated in a hospital in Córdoba. However, this was a case of mistaken identity, as "El País" wrote. The grandmother was only able to hold her granddaughter in her arms.
The family came from the town of Aljaraque and ran a clothing store in the nearby coastal town of Punta Umbría. They were on their way back from Madrid, where they had attended a Real Madrid football match, the newspaper reported. The mayor of Punta Umbría, José Carlos Hernández, said that the whole town was "deeply shocked". The family had been very popular.
