MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A train derailment in southern Spain has killed at least 39 people and left dozens injured. The accident involved two high-speed trains traveling in opposite directions. NPR's Miguel Macias reports from Seville, Spain.
MIGUEL MACIAS, BYLINE: The multiple routes that connect major cities in Andalusia in southern Spain with Madrid come together in the region of Cordoba. That's where a train that was traveling from Malaga to Madrid on Sunday may have collided with a train headed for Huelva, traveling at over 120 miles per hour in exactly the opposite direction. Yuri Montoya was on the train headed to Madrid and described the moment for the Spanish national radio network Cadena SER.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
YURI MONTOYA: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: She says she's very affected psychologically by everything she saw and experienced last night. She thought it was the end for her, that she was going to die. Montoya survived, but dozens died in the accident. Some may still be trapped under the metal, and others are fighting for their lives in local hospitals.
Here's what we know. That section of the tracks had been renovated in May 2025. Both trains were traveling under the speed limit. Iryo, the Italian operator of the train that derailed, says their train was inspected just four days ago. And it was made recently, in 2022. Here's Transport Minister Oscar Puente speaking to the press last night.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
OSCAR PUENTE: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: "The accident is tremendously strange," Puente said, "as the trains were also traveling on a straightaway section of the track." Alvaro Fernandez Heredia is president of Renfe, the state-owned train operator.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ALVARO FERNANDEZ HEREDIA: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: Speaking to Cadena SER, Fernandez said on Monday that we can't even conclude just yet that the two trains actually crashed into each other. What we do know is that the first two cars of the oncoming train, which belonged to Renfe, fell off a 13-foot incline. Spain has the largest high-speed rail network in Europe. Train derailments are not common in Spain. The last major accident was in 2013, when 80 people died in an accident due to excessive speed.
Miguel Macias, NPR News, Seville, Spain.
(SOUNDBITE OF FEDERICO ALBANESE'S "SLOW WITHIN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
