On the evening of 18 January, a serious train crash occurred in the province of Ourense (Galicia, north-western Spain). A passenger train travelling from Madrid to Ferrol derailed on a high-speed section of the AVE line near the town of San Estevo de Nogueira.
According to the latest data as of the morning of 19 January, 39 people have been confirmed dead, and at least 87 more have been injured to varying degrees, 24 of whom are in critical condition. Rescue operations continued throughout the night and were almost complete by morning.
The preliminary version of the causes of the disaster is that the train derailed at a speed of about 180–200 km/h on a section with a sharp turn. The main theories being considered include:
technical malfunction of the track or points,
failure of the automatic braking system,
human error (mistake by the driver or dispatcher).
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has already arrived at the scene of the tragedy and held an emergency meeting with the management of Renfe, Adif and the regional authorities of Galicia.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia expressed their condolences to the families of the victims and announced a three-day period of national mourning.
The government has promised to conduct a thorough independent investigation with the involvement of international experts. All trains on the Madrid-Galicia line have been temporarily cancelled, with service set to resume no earlier than several days after the infrastructure has been inspected.
This is one of the worst railway disasters in Spain in the last 15 years.