"Death and destruction" in Adamuz, tears and anguish in Córdoba: the day after the worst train tragedy of the decade

Adamuz / CórdobaWhen he recalls the scene and tries to describe it, only isolated words emerge. "Death." "Destruction." "Hands." Each word conjures an image from a dramatic night. He remembers a woman weeping, saying she didn't know where her husband was. The image of a pile of twisted metal flashes before his eyes, with hands emerging from it. Some moving, others still. Gonzalo Sánchez is 46 years old and from Adamuz, a small town in Córdoba with just over 4,000 inhabitants. Four kilometers from the town, amidst olive groves and forests, Two high-speed trains collided Sunday at 7:45 p.m.

It was nighttime when the Iryo train traveling between Málaga and Atocha (Madrid) derailed in the Adamuz area, invaded the tracks, and caused the Alvia train traveling from Madrid to Huelva to derail. Adamuz is now the scene of the worst train tragedy of the decade, which has claimed at least 40 lives. A total of 527 passengers were on board the two trains involved in the accident, according to the list released by authorities on Monday night. Until now, the most serious accident of this kind in Spain was the 2013 derailment in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia), which left 80 dead and more than 130 injured.

Through the Integrated Data Center (CID), the Institute of Legal Medicine of Córdoba has reported that it has already received 37 of the 40 bodies located in the area of the accident, of which only five have been fully identified, all through fingerprints. But the death toll is not final: there are still search and extrication operations to be carried out at the scene, specifically in the area where the train derailed. So far, a total of 43 missing persons reports have been filed in Huelva, Madrid, Málaga, Córdoba, and Seville, and the president of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno,fearsthat more victims will be found when the crane lifts the wrecked carriages from the four-meter embankment.

When he heard about the accident, Gonzalo Sánchez got on his quad bike and headed towards the train tracks. The accident didn't happen at a station, but in an isolated, sunken area, accessible only by a winding road that was closed by the police on Monday. Only dirt tracks, constantly used by Civil Guard off-road vehicles, allow you to get close and get a sense of the disaster from afar. But Gonzalo Sánchez was able to get down to the tracks on his quad bike on Sunday afternoon, and he didn't stop making trips until three in the morning. Six at a time. You can still see a few drops of blood on the quad bike. They asked him to go to the Alvia carriage furthest away, one of the most damaged. Suddenly, the conversation with Gonzalo stops because Alberto asks him for help. It's been 24 hours since the accident, but many questions remain unanswered.

Alberto's biggest worry is whether his five-months-pregnant friend will survive. Her entire family was on the train, and now they all hope she'll be released from the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU). Her sister, Ana, was with her in the carriage. She remembers the frustration of seeing people die and being powerless to help. At the moment, the family admits they don't have a clear prognosis for the pregnant woman. Alberto is from Madrid, but he's come all the way to Adamuz to see his friend in the hospital. He's tried, but hasn't been able to. Meanwhile, he's been asked to look for Boro. He's a miniature schnauzer dog that was traveling with his friend and her family. The dog disappeared at the moment of impact. Rumors have spread on social media that he's been found safe and sound, so Alberto has come from Madrid to look for him. That's precisely what Alberto is asking Gonzalo. But none of the neighbors know anything. Meanwhile, social media continues to be the epicenter of desperate calls from many people searching for their loved ones.

At the momentThe specific causes of the accident are unknown.The accident occurred Sunday night on a straight, flat section of track. Transport Minister Óscar Puente explained that three trains passed along the same track in the 20 minutes leading up to the accident without any reported incidents. In fact, he described the accident as "extremely strange" and predicted it would take at least a month to determine what happened. For now, the investigation appears to be focusing on the condition of the tracks, although authorities maintain they were not old, but rather that "the materials were new and in good condition." Regarding published reports indicating a section of track was broken, Puente insisted that the investigation—which falls under the jurisdiction of the Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF)—will determine whether that signal on the rail is "the cause or consequence" of the Alyo train's derailment. For its part, the Italian operator Iryo explained that the train that derailed, manufactured in 2022, had been inspected just four days prior, on January 15th. The CIAF (Spanish Railway Accident Investigation Commission), which has been working at the crash site since Sunday night, points to "the interaction between the track and the train" as a possible cause of the derailment. The organization's president, Iñaki Barrón, indicated that in an initial review of the accident, "it doesn't appear to be a human error, a signaling problem, or an electrification issue... what is involved in a derailment is always the interaction between the track and the train," he emphasized. Searching for answers

On Monday afternoon, only piles of blankets and food scraps remained at the Adamuz municipal sports center; the aftermath of a night many affected families had to spend away from home. Similar efforts by families searching for their loved ones were seen in Córdoba, Huelva, and Madrid. "We've searched everywhere and visited every hospital," Juan Barroso, spokesperson for a family from Punta Umbría (Huelva) with four missing members, told the media. The family's six-year-old daughter left the train on her own and is resting in a hotel. Later that afternoon, it was confirmed that all four members of that family had died. The 40 deaths have left behind heartbreaking images of families going to the Civil Guard headquarters in Córdoba to provide DNA samples for comparison with the deceased. And striking images like those of families at a civic center in Córdoba itself, set up as a psychological support point, leaving in cars with their heads down and visibly emotional. The Red Cross representative admits that the atmosphere inside is "distressing." "The hours pass and they don't get any answers. We try to be there for them," she explains. Some will spend the night here. With each passing hour, she describes, that anxiety grows stronger and more visible. There are elderly people and young people, the elderly and their children. The 40 deaths have also turned the Córdoba Courthouse into a giant morgue. At night, the silence is only broken by emergency vehicles arriving at the site. "And we don't know what else is left," admits a police officer. He was recently at the train tracks and explains that there is still a lot of scrap metal to be removed. It isn't until the afternoon that the technical and rescue teams begin to set up a large crane to lift the carriages of the wrecked Alvia train. This should allow the extrication work to begin, which will be slow because there is a lot of material to remove, as explained by the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno. In fact, it is unknown whether there may be more victims. Another officer predicts that it will be days before there is a clear answer to this question. Cranes, heavy machinery, police, and vehicles from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) are passing along the winding road that connects the railway tracks to Adamuz. Police officers are from all over, as are Civil Protection volunteers. Doctors and nurses from nearby towns also came to help on Sunday. Local bars also offered assistance, donating all the bread they had stored in the pavilions. This Monday, the pavilion was emptied of those affected and filled with journalists from Spain, Europe, and around the world. A flood of media inundates this small town, the civic center in Córdoba where families endure this agonizing wait, the hospitals where survivors fight for their lives, and the morgue where the victims rest.