A Spain train crash has killed at least 39 people after a high-speed service derailed and was struck by another train in the country’s south, authorities said on Monday.

The collision happened on Sunday evening near Adamuz in the Andalucia region. Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the death toll was “not definitive” and could still rise.

Around 123 people were injured, including five very seriously and 24 seriously, according to the interior ministry.

High-Speed Derailment Led to Second Impact

Authorities said a train operated by rail company Iryo was travelling from Malaga to Madrid when it derailed and crossed onto an adjacent track. It then collided with an oncoming train, which also derailed.

Renfe, the operator of the second train, has not said how many passengers were on board. The service was travelling to the southern city of Huelva.

Iryo said about 300 people were on its Malaga to Madrid service. The company said the locomotive was built in 2022 and was last inspected on 15 January. It added the train veered onto the other track for reasons that are still unknown.

Minister Calls Crash “Extremely Strange”

Puente told reporters the derailment happened on a straight part of the track that had been completely renovated. He described the train as “practically new” and said the incident was “extremely strange” and “very difficult to explain”.

He said rail experts were also surprised by what happened.

Puente also thanked rescue teams for working through the night “under very difficult circumstances”, in a post on X.

Rescue Teams Battled Twisted Metal

Emergency services said freeing passengers from the wreckage was difficult because carriages were twisted.

“The problem is that the carriages are twisted, so the metal is twisted with the people inside,” Francisco Carmona, head of firefighters in Cordoba, told public broadcaster RTVE. He said rescuers had to remove a body to reach someone still alive, describing it as “hard, tricky work”.

Passengers described chaotic scenes. One survivor, Montse, said the second train jolted, stopped and “everything went dark”. She said luggage fell onto passengers and there were children crying.

Leaders React as PM Heads to Site

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was expected to visit the crash site on Monday, his office said. He described the night as one of deep pain and said “no words can alleviate such great suffering”.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia also expressed condolences and wished the injured a swift recovery. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were among leaders offering condolences.