Adamuz mayor describes 'horrific' scene after deadly high-speed train crash in southern Spain

(19 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Adamuz, Spain - 19 January 2026
1. Wide of Guardia Civil officers on road
2. Mid of officers and vehicle
3. Wide of Spanish Red Cross centre
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ana, no last-name given, passenger on train to Madrid:
"Some people were okay. But some were very, very bad. I had them in front of me and you could tell they were really bad. And I couldn’t do anything."
Journalist asking question: And then your sister, was she rescued by firefighters? Who rescued her?
"The firefighters rescued her from the train, and both of us were carried to the hospital in an ambulance. Right now, she is in observation and we are waiting. I am trying to find my dog. I ask people please to help looking for our pets. Because they are also family too.”
5. Wide of media
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ana, no last-name given, passenger on train to Madrid:
"We are from Malaga and we work in Madrid and we were coming back from a weekend with our family with our dog, who is family too."
7. Tracking shot of Ana being guided away
8. Tracking shot of Red Cross members arriving
9. Wide of Red Cross members
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rafael Angel Moreno, Adamuz Mayor:
“The scene was horrific. It was terrible. People asking and begging for help. Those leaving the wreckage are images that will always stay in my mind.”
11. Various of church officials arriving, speaking to media
12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Monsignor Jesus Fernandez, Bishop of Cordoba:
“We must show our concern in these moments, hoping this situation will be solved as soon as possible, for things to be clarified, clarified for the betterment of the people so they don’t find their relatives among the list of the deceased.”
13. Mid of Monsignor Jesus Fernandez, Bishop of Cordoba speaking to press
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Monsignor Jesus Fernandez, Bishop of Cordoba:
"The most beautiful word is silence and an embrace. Words here get in the way. It’s good for them to find somebody by their side in this situation to give them comfort. But I can’t think of many words to say.”
15. Wide of press
STORYLINE:
The mayor of Adamuz, Spain, said Monday that the scene of a train collision that left at least 39 dead was "horrific."

Rafael Angel Moreno said that images of people begging for help and leaving the wreckage "will always stay in my mind."

The crash occurred Sunday at 7:45 p.m. when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the rails at 7:45 p.m.

It slammed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.

Efforts to recover the bodies are continuing and the death toll is likely to rise. Authorities said all the survivors had been rescued in the early morning while work remained to recover and identify the dead.

Ana, one of the injured passengers, was riding the train to Madrid with her sister after spending the weekend with her family.

"Some people were okay. But some were very, very bad. I had them in front of me and you could tell they were really bad. And I couldn’t do anything," she said.

Her sister had been taken to the hospital, and her dog was missing.

The bishop of Cordoba told the media that words cannot express the extent of the tragedy.

"The most beautiful word is silence and an embrace. Words here get in the way," Monsignor Jesus Fernandez said.

AP video by Alicia Leon Perea

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