Spain Train Crash Kills 21 Near Cordoba, Rescue Ongoing (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: But now in Spain at least 21 people have died after two high-speed trains collided. It happened near the town of Adams where a train heading towards Madrid derailed and hit another on the other side of the tracks. More than 30 passengers are being treated for serious injuries in hospital. Barry Caffrey has the latest.

[00:00:24] Speaker 2: This was the scene after the collision between the two high-speed trains in southern Spain which happened shortly before seven o'clock local time yesterday evening. A train en route from Malaga to Madrid derailed near to the city of Cordoba in Andalusia crossing onto the other track where it hit an oncoming train. One passenger described the moment of impact as feeling like an earthquake and said survivors had smashed windows to escape. Military personnel were dispatched to help with the rescue effort. IRYO, a private rail company that operated the journey from Malaga said around 300 passengers were on board the train that first derailed while the other train operated by Renfe had around 100 passengers on board. Though the cause of the crash is not yet known Spain's transport minister Oscar Puente told reporters it was very strange that the derailment had happened on a straight section of track. While rail travel is generally very safe and reliable in Spain this incident will no doubt bring back memories of a derailment in 2013 when a train left the tracks outside Santiago de Compostela in the northwest of the country. 79 people were killed in what was the worst rail accident in Spain for more than 40 years. King Felipe and Queen Letizia said they were following news of this latest incident with great concern. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government was working with the emergency services to help those affected. Barry Caffrey BBC News.

[00:02:24] Speaker 1: Well let's now go live to Spain and we're joined by Paco Paulit who is following this story as well. Paco tell us the latest is the is the rescue operation still underway?

[00:02:38] Speaker 3: Hello good morning yeah actually the the rescue services are still working hard at trying to get as much information as possible but last night the last time there was an update surrounding the number of deceased people in this accident so far we haven't had more news earlier today on Monday we expect the first statement to come in the following hours earlier this morning but the figures are still the same with 21 pronounced dead 75 people injured 24 of them in serious condition and obviously the situation in the railway system in the zone of Andalusia still with plenty of issues and most of the trains being unable to cross on those tracks for the rest of the day.

[00:03:25] Speaker 1: And just there will of course be an investigation and into what went wrong I mean in Spain you have quite a few high speed trains don't you it's it's one of the more pioneering countries when it comes to that?

[00:03:38] Speaker 3: Yeah not only the the number of trains available but also the the speeds that most of them are working at it's potentially one of the you know best railway systems in the in the whole European Union and it's quite bizarre actually listening to to the Minister of Transport Oscar Puente as we did a few seconds ago talking about in his first assessment of the crash literally the quote was that the accident was incredibly strange because the the zone of of the track was in in a straight line he stated that you know the the tracks were in good shape they were actually replaced back in May 2025 so the investigation must go further to actually learn the issues which caused the the accident.

[00:04:27] Speaker 1: Paco Paulit thank you for talking us through what's been going on there in Spain.