High-speed trains collide after one derails in southern Spain, killing at least 21

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A high-speed train derailed, jumped onto the track in the opposite direction and slammed into an oncoming train Sunday in southern Spain, killing at least people 21 and injuring dozens more, the country’s transport minister said.

The tail end of an evening train traveling from Malaga to Madrid with some 300 passengers went off the rails near Córdoba at 7:45 p.m. local time and slammed into a train with some 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.

Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente updated the death toll to 21 after midnight when he said that rescuers had removed all the survivors. But Puente said there could be more victims still to be confirmed.

Andalusia regional President Juanma Moreno said 75 passengers were hospitalized, with most taken to the nearby city of Cordoba, including 15 people with serious injuries.

Moreno said emergency workers would work all night to remove bodies from the wreckage.

“We have a very difficult night ahead,” Andalusia’s regional health chief Antonio Sanz said.

Officials call accident ‘strange’

Puente said the cause of the crash was unknown.

He called it “a truly strange” incident because it happened on a flat stretch of track that had been renovated in May. He also said the train that jumped the track was less than four years old. That train bel...