Spain to observe 3-day national mourning after deadly train crash claimed 40 lives

Spain will observe three days of national mourning following a deadly train crash in the country’s south that has claimed at least 40 lives, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Monday.

The accident occurred at around 7:45 p.m. local time (18:45 GMT) on Sunday, when a train carrying 317 passengers on the Málaga–Madrid route derailed for reasons still unknown near Adamuz, about 20 kilometres north of the city of Córdoba.

The crash is Spain’s deadliest rail disaster since 2013, when 80 people were killed after a train derailed on a curved section of track near the North-Western city of Santiago de Compo stela.

According to AFP, Prime Minister Sánchez cancelled his scheduled engagements and travelled to the crash site, where he addressed the media and announced that the official mourning period would begin at midnight on Monday. He described the tragedy as a “painful day” for the nation and pledged a full investigation into its cause.
“We will get to the truth, we will find the answers,” Sánchez said, adding that the government would keep the public fully informed “with complete transparency.”
Survivors recounted harrowing moments from the crash. “The train tipped to one side… then everything went dark, and all I heard were screams,” said 26-year-old Ana García Aranda, who was receiving treatment at a Red Cross centre in Adamuz.
Police drone footage showed two trains, carrying a total of 527 people, brought to a halt around 500 metres apart. One carriage was split in two, while the locomotive was crushed “like a tin can,” authorities said.
Heavy machinery was deployed on Monday to lift severely damaged carriages and allow rescuers better access to the wreckage. More than 120 people were injured in the crash, with 41 still hospitalised.
Spain’s Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, said it was “strange” for such an accident to occur on a straight section of track that had been laid as recently as May 2025. He added that the Málaga–Madrid service, operated by private company Iryo, was using relatively new rolling stock built in 2022