Death toll in Spanish train crash rises to 39

The death toll from a collision between two high-speed trains in southern Spain has risen to 39, with nearly 100 injured, in the country’s worst train accident in decades, the BBC reported on Monday (January 19), citing Spanish state broadcaster RTVE.
The Spanish rail authority ADIF said a high-speed train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed near the town of Adamuz on Sunday evening (January 19) local time. At the time, it crossed onto the opposite track and collided with another train coming from the opposite direction, causing the train to derail as well.
The rail authority said there were more than 400 passengers on both trains. The Andalusian emergency service said at least 73 people had been taken to hospital. 24 of them, including four children, were in a critical condition. Rescue teams said the train was badly twisted, making it difficult to recover survivors and the dead.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences for the train crash, saying Spain would have to endure a “night of deep mourning” today. Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the incident appeared to be “very unusual”, but the official cause was not yet known. An investigation is expected to take at least a month to determine what happened.
“The carriages are twisted. The metal is twisted. People are trapped inside. We may have to remove the dead to rescue someone who is trapped. It is a very difficult and risky task,” Francisco Carmona, head of the Cordoba regional fire service, told RTVE. All train services in Madrid and Andalusia have been suspended following the accident and will remain closed today.