Recovery and Investigation Underway After Deadly Train Crash in Spain

Tue Jan 20 2026 18:46:18 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

As rescue efforts continue following the tragic train collision in Adamuz, Spain, officials probe a suspected rail defect believed to have contributed to the disaster that has already claimed at least 41 lives.

The recovery process continues in southern Spain after a catastrophic train crash killed at least 41 individuals and injured over 120. Investigations into the derailment are focusing on a possible defective rail weld identified in media reports as a potential cause. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has committed to a thorough inquiry, while the nation prepares for a period of mourning and visits from royal family members to the crash site.

Heavy machinery is being used to assist in the recovery following a two-train crash in southern Spain which killed at least 41 people. Rescuers worked through a second night as more bodies are feared to be trapped in the wreckage.

More than 120 people were injured when carriages on a Madrid-bound train derailed and crossed over to the opposite tracks, hitting an oncoming train in Adamuz on Sunday evening.

A faulty or damaged weld on a rail is being investigated as a factor in the crash, Spanish media report.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has cancelled his planned trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, pledging to get to the bottom of Spain's worst train disaster in more than a decade.

Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia will visit the site later on Tuesday. Three days of national mourning have been announced.

Transport Minister Óscar Puente said the death toll is not yet final. Officials are working to identify the dead.

Puente said the investigation could take at least a month, describing the incident as extremely strange. Spanish media report that a 30cm gap in one of the rails is the current focus of the investigation. Technicians told the El Mundo newspaper that a bad or deteriorated weld was more than likely the cause for the derailment.

Four hundred passengers and staff were on board the two trains, the rail authorities said. Emergency services treated 122 people, with 41, including children, still in hospital. Of those, 12 are in intensive care. Most of those killed and injured were in the front carriages of the Huelva-bound train.

As the investigation into the crash continues, Spanish media reported that train drivers warned about the state of the Madrid-Andalusia line in August and requested a speed limit of under 250kph.

Salvador Jimenez, a journalist with RTVE who was on one of the trains, said the impact felt like an earthquake. In a letter to the state-owned rail infrastructure administrator, Adif, the drivers union reportedly said the increase in the number and weight of high-speed trains was causing a greater number of failures.