Investigators examining Sunday’s crash near Adamuz in Córdoba province, about 360 km (220 miles) south of Madrid, discovered wear on a joint between rail sections, known as a fishplate. A source familiar with the preliminary investigation said the fault had likely existed for some time. The defective joint created a gap that widened as trains continued to pass over it, potentially contributing to the derailment.

“The technicians believe the faulty joint is key to identifying the precise cause of the accident,” the source said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

Members of the Spanish Civil Guard crime department work next to the trains involved in the accident, at the site of a deadly derailment of two high-speed trains near Adamuz, in Cordoba, Spain, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Susana Vera

The train, operated by Spanish private company Iryo, derailed after its eighth carriage went off the tracks, bringing the sixth and seventh carriages with it. The derailed carriages collided with an oncoming train, sending it down an embankment. Iryo is majority-owned by the Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato.

Spanish authorities, including the Commission of Investigation of Rail Accidents (CIAF), the transport ministry, and rail operator Adif, had not commented as of Monday. Álvaro Fernandez Heredia, president of Renfe, which operates the second train involved, told Cadena Ser radio it was too early to determine the cause. He added that the accident occurred under “strange conditions” and that “human error is practically ruled out.”

Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puentes, Spanish Vice President Maria Jesus Montero, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and President of the Andalusia community, Juan Manuel Moreno attend the press conference at a municipal centre following the aftermath of a deadly derailment of two high-speed trains near Adamuz, in Cordoba, Spain, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Ana Beltran

Inspection Findings

The first carriages passed over the gap without incident, according to the source, but the defect caused the derailment of the last three carriages. A photograph showing the vertical gap in the rail has circulated publicly, including in materials shared by Spain’s Guardia Civil. Police have marked the area with incident numbers for forensic inspection.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Transport Minister Óscar Puente visited the crash site on Monday morning. Sánchez canceled his planned trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos following the accident. Puente noted that the Iryo train involved was less than four years old and that the track had undergone full renovation last May. The train, a Frecciarossa 1000—used on Italy’s high-speed network—was last inspected by manufacturer Hitachi Rail on January 15, as part of routine maintenance, with no anomalies detected, the source said.

Survivors Describe Horror at Crash Site

Many passengers said they only grasped the scale of the disaster after leaving the train and witnessing injured or dead victims, as well as emergency teams working under floodlights.

People affected by a deadly train derailment receive treatment at the Caseta Municipal in the town of Adamuz, after a high-speed train derailed and collided with another oncoming train, near Cordoba, Spain, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Alex Gallegos

“I started to get up and thought, this isn’t normal. Then I looked for my sister. That’s the last thing I remember before everything went dark,” said Ana Garcia Aranda, 26, who had been traveling from Málaga to Madrid with her sister and their dog. Other passengers helped pull her from the wrecked carriage.

“There were people who were fine and others who were very, very badly injured. You had them right in front of you and you knew they were going to die, and you couldn’t do anything,” she said, showing plasters on her face.

Local residents mobilized to help stranded passengers, bringing water, blankets, and food. Paqui, a local farmer, described the scene as “horrific.”

“Pieces of people, it wasn’t people anymore, you found arms. My husband saw a child who died inside… another child calling for his mother, looking for his mother,” she said. “I can’t sleep, those are images that stay with you.”