By Anietie Anii-Bassey
A commuter train crash near Barcelona on Tuesday killed one person and injured at least 15 others after a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks, Spanish regional authorities said, compounding a wave of grief across the country just days after a far deadlier rail disaster in southern Spain.
The latest crash occurred in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, near the town of Gelida, about 35 minutes by train from central Barcelona. Emergency services said three of the injured were in serious condition, while five others suffered moderate injuries. A total of 11 ambulances were dispatched to the scene as first responders worked to stabilize passengers and secure the area.
Spain’s railway infrastructure operator said early assessments indicated the retaining wall likely gave way due to heavy rainfall that has swept across northeastern Spain in recent days.
The sudden collapse sent debris onto the tracks moments before the commuter train passed, leaving the driver with no time to avoid impact.
The accident came as Spain was already reeling from a catastrophic train collision that occurred Sunday evening in Andalusia, roughly 800 kilometers to the south.
That crash killed at least 42 people and injured dozens more, prompting the government to declare three days of national mourning. Emergency crews were still combing through wreckage from the southern crash on Tuesday as the death toll continued to rise.
Regional health officials in Andalusia confirmed that another body was recovered from a severely damaged carriage, pushing the official number of fatalities higher.
Hospitals across the region continued to treat dozens of injured passengers, with authorities saying 39 people remained hospitalized as of Tuesday morning, while at least 83 others were treated and released.
Stories of survival and loss have emerged from the southern wreck, underscoring the human toll of the disaster. A 6-year-old girl survived the crash with only minor injuries, while her parents, brother, and cousin were killed. In another case, Fidel Sáez lost his mother but said his two children, his brother, and a nephew survived after escaping through a window of the mangled train.
“My brother told me it was a miracle he was alive,” Sáez said in an interview with national television. “He had to get the children out through a window. He asked me to tell people about our mother and how good she was.”
Among the injured was Emil Jonsson, a Swedish national living in Málaga, who was traveling to Madrid to renew his passport. Speaking from a wheelchair in a hospital corridor, Jonsson described the impact as sudden and violent.
“It was probably two or three seconds, and then everything was broken,” he said. “When we crashed, I didn’t know who was alive and who was dead.”
The southern collision occurred at about 7:45 p.m. when the rear of a train carrying 289 passengers derailed on the route from Málaga to Madrid and struck another train traveling in the opposite direction from Madrid to Huelva.
The second train, carrying 184 passengers, absorbed the brunt of the impact. Its first two carriages were knocked off the tracks and plunged down a four-meter embankment.
Authorities said some victims were found hundreds of meters from the point of impact. Images from the scene showed shattered carriages lying beside the tracks, seats hurled onto the rocky ballast, and twisted metal strewn across the rail corridor. Civil Guard officers, accompanied by search dogs, continued to inspect the wreckage as personal belongings remained scattered inside overturned cars.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the southern crash, which Transport Minister Óscar Puente described as “truly strange.” He noted that the derailment occurred on a straight stretch of track and that neither train was traveling at excessive speed.
A broken section of rail has been identified, though officials stressed it is not yet clear whether the damage caused the derailment or resulted from it.
“All hypotheses are open,” Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said, adding that investigators will analyze the rails and the wheels of the derailed train in specialized laboratories.
The train that left the tracks was operated by private company Iryo, while the second train belonged to state-owned rail operator Renfe. Iryo said its train was built in 2022 and passed a safety inspection earlier this month.
Both Puente and Renfe President Álvaro Fernández said human error could likely be ruled out, noting that both trains were traveling well below the permitted speed of 250 kilometers per hour.
The accidents have shaken public confidence in Spain’s rail system, which boasts Europe’s largest high-speed rail network and is often cited as among the continent’s most advanced.
“It is undoubtedly a hard blow,” Puente said in a radio interview. “My responsibility now is to ensure this does not undermine the credibility and strength of the network.”
Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia visited the site of the southern crash, meeting emergency workers and local residents who assisted in the initial rescue efforts.
They later traveled to a hospital in Córdoba to visit victims still receiving treatment. Queen Letizia urged the country not to turn away once the immediate debris is cleared, emphasizing the need to support those affected in the long term.
Authorities continue to collect DNA samples from families seeking to identify loved ones among the dead.
While high-speed rail service partially resumed Tuesday between Madrid and major southern cities including Seville and Málaga, passengers were required to complete portions of the journey by bus. Full service is not expected to resume until early February.
Airlines and bus companies have added extra services to help stranded travelers, as Spain grapples with the aftermath of one of the darkest weeks in its modern rail history.
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