Spain mourns as train disaster toll rises to 41
Spain begins three days of national mourning on Tuesday for the 41 people killed in a high-speed train crash that the prime minister has vowed to investigate. The crash late on Sunday is Spain’s deadliest train accident since 2013, when 80 people died after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.
The latest disaster took place when a train operated by rail company Iryo, travelling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region. It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train, which also derailed.
“This is a day of sorrow for all of Spain, for our entire country,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters during a visit to Adamuz on Monday as he declared three days of mourning.
“We will uncover the answer, and once the cause of this tragedy is determined, we will present it with absolute transparency.” Forty deaths have been confirmed due to the crash, the head of Andalucia’s regional government, Juan Manuel Moreno, told a news conference, raising the toll from 39. It would take 24-48 hours “to know with certainty how many deaths have resulted from this terrible accident,” he added.
Heavy machinery was deployed on Monday to lift the most severely damaged train carriages and give rescuers better access to the site of the disaster. Over 120 people were injured, with 41 still in hospitals in the nearby city of Cordoba, Moreno said.
Relatives and friends of missing passengers have turned to social media, posting photos in an effort to find them.
