UPDATE 2 - Death toll rises to 21 in Spain high-speed train accident

UPDATES DEATH TOLL; ADDS DETAILS ON CRASH; CHANGES HEAD, DECK, LEDE

By Alyssa McMurtry and Alperen Aktas

OVIEDO, Spain / ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 21 people were killed and around 100 others injured Sunday night in a high-speed rail accident in southern Spain, local media reported, citing authorities.

Of the injured, at least 25 remain in serious condition, according to authorities cited by public broadcaster RTVE.

The accident occurred around 7.40 pm local time (1840GMT) when a train traveling from Malaga to Madrid derailed at the near Adamuz, Cordoba, and encroached onto an adjacent track.

This caused a second train heading south from Madrid to Huelva to derail as well.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente confirmed on US social media company X that the first two wagons of the second train were "thrown off" the tracks, acknowledging that reports from the scene were "very grave."

One of the deceased has been identified as the second train's driver, Transport Ministry sources said, according to RTVE.

Adamuz's Mayor Rafael Moreno was first to arrive at the scene along with local police. He said he saw at least one body several meters from the point of impact.

"I saw a passenger reduced to rags," Moreno told Spanish daily El Pais. "There was no light, it was nighttime. The scene is horrific."

The accident forced the suspension of high-speed rail traffic between Madrid and Andalusia, and officials confirmed the line would remain closed throughout Monday, Jan. 19.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez canceled his official agenda for Monday to monitor the emergency, while the government deployed military emergency forces to assist at the site.

“Very worried about the serious rail accident in Cordoba. We’ve sent emergency services and logistical support to help however we can,” Andalusia President Juanma Moreno posted on US social media company X.

Isabel Diaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid region, stated that emergency teams and psychologists were being sent to Madrid's Atocha station to assist awaiting families.

Spain’s royal family also expressed "great concern" and offered condolences to the families of the victims.

Salvador Jimenez, a journalist with Spain’s national radio RNE, was on board the train traveling to Madrid.

He told RTVE that one of the wagons on his train had “completely flipped.”

“We left Malaga on time ... There was a moment that felt like an earthquake and that’s when the train derailed,” he said, recounting the incident.

Jimenez described how passengers used hammers to break windows to escape and were eventually evacuated by emergency personnel.

Spain suffered one of its deadliest rail disasters in 2013, when a high-speed train traveling from Madrid to Galicia derailed, killing 79 people and injuring 179 others.