Death toll in Spanish train collision rises to 40 as authorities fear more bodies could be found

ADAMUZ, Spain (AP) — Regional Spanish officials said Monday that at least 40 people are confirmed dead in a high-speed rail collision the previous night in the country's south when the tail end of a train jumped the track, causing another train speeding past in the opposite direction to derail.

Juanma Moreno, the president of Andalusia, the southern Spanish region where the accident happened, confirmed the new death toll in an afternoon press conference. Efforts to recover the bodies from the two wrecked train cars continued, he added.

The impact tossed the second train's lead carriages off the track, sending them plummeting down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters (feet) from the crash site, Moreno said earlier in the day, describing the wreckage as a “mass of twisted metal" with bodies likely still to be found inside.

Authorities are also focusing on attending hundreds of distraught family members and have asked for them to provide DNA samples to help identify victims.

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

The head of the second train, which was carrying nearly 200 passengers, took the brunt of the impact, Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said. That collision knocked its first two carriages off the track. Puente said that it appeared the largest number of the deaths occurred in those carriages.

Authorities said all the survivors had been rescued in the early morning.

The accident shook a nation which leads Europe in high-speed train mileage and takes pride in a network that is considered at the cutting edge of rail transport.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the crash.

“Today is a day of pain for all of Spain,” Sánchez said on a visit to Adamuz, a village near the accident site, where many locals helped emergency services handle the influx of distraught and hurt passengers overnight.

Moreno, the regional leader, said Monday morning that emergency services were still searching for bodies.

“Here at ground zero, when you look at this mass of twisted iron, you see the violence of the impact,” Moreno said. “The impact was so incredibly violent that we have found bodies hundreds of meters away.”

Video released by the Civil Guard showed the worst-hit carriages shredded open, train seats cast on the gravel packing under the tracks. One carriage lay on its side, bent around a large concrete pillar, with debris scattered around the area.

Passengers reported climbing out of smashed windows, with some using emergency hammers to break the glass.

Andalusia’s regional emergency services said 41 people remained hospitalized, 12 of whom were in intensive care units. Another 81 passengers were discharged by late Monday afternoon, authorities said.

Train services Monday between Madrid and cities in Andalusia were canceled, causing large disruptions. Spanish airline Iberia added flights to Seville and another two to Malaga to help stranded travelers. Some bus companies also reinforced their services in the south.

Transport Minister Puente early Monday 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 4 years old. That train belonged to the Italian-owned company Iryo, while the second train was part of Spain’s public train company, Renfe.

According to Puente, the back part of the first train derailed and crashed into the head of the other train. An investigation into the cause could take a month, he said.

The Spanish Union of Railway Drivers told The Associated Press that in August, it sent a letter asking Spain’s national railway operator to investigate flaws on train lines across the country and to reduce speeds at certain points until the tracks were fully repaired. Those recommendations were made for high-speed train lines, including the one where Sunday's accident took place, the union said.

Álvaro Fernández, the president of Renfe, told Spanish public radio RNE that both trains were well under the speed limit of 250 kph (155 mph); one was going 205 kph (127 mph), the other 210 kph (130 mph). He also said that “human error could be ruled out.”

The incident “must be related to the moving equipment of Iryo or the infrastructure,” he said.

Iryo issued a statement on Monday saying that its train was manufactured in 2022 and passed its latest safety check on Jan. 15.

The Civil Guard opened an office in Cordoba, the nearest city to the crash, as well as Madrid, Malaga, Huelva and Seville for family members of the missing to seek help and leave DNA samples.

“There were moments when we had to remove the dead to get to the living,” Francisco Carmona, firefighter chief of Cordoba, told Onda Cero radio.

A sports center in Adamuz, a town in the province of Cordoba, about 370 kilometers (about 230 miles) south of Madrid, was turned into a makeshift hospital. The Spanish Red Cross set up a help center offering assistance to emergency services and people seeking information.

“The scene was horrific. It was terrible,” Adamuz Mayor Rafael Moreno told AP and other reporters. “People asking and begging for help. Those leaving the wreckage. Images that will always stay in my mind.”

One passenger had been treated in a local hospital along with her sister before she returned to Adamuz with hopes of finding her lost dog. She was limping and had a small bandage on her cheek, as seen by an AP reporter.

Spain has spent decades investing heavily in high-speed trains and currently has the largest rail network in Europe for trains moving over 250 kph (155 mph), with more than 3,900 kilometers (2,400 miles) of track, according to the International Union of Railways.

The network is a popular, competitively priced and safe mode of transport. Renfe said more than 25 million passengers took one of its high-speed trains in 2024.

Iryo became the first private competitor in high-speed to Renfe in Spain in 2022.

Sunday's accident was the first with deaths on a high-speed train since Spain's high-speed rail network opened its first line in 1992.

Spain’s worst train accident this century occurred in 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in the country’s northwest. An investigation concluded the train was traveling 179 kph (111 mph) on a stretch with an 80 kph (50 mph) speed limit when it left the tracks. That stretch of track was not high speed.

Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain, and Naishadham from Madrid. Video-journalist Alicia León in Adamuz and AP journalists Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, and Teresa Medrano in Madrid contributed.

Part of a wrecked train is photographed at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Pieces of a crashed train are photographed at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Part of a wrecked train is photographed at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Broken windows of a crashed train are photographed at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Emergency crews work at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Emergency crews work at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

In this aerial view grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, a view of the Alvia train with rescue workers at the scene after a high-speed train collision, near Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)

Emergency crews work alongside one of the trains involved in a train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)

In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)

In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision,in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP)

Police cars near the site of a high-speed train collision in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

An injured person is transported to the makeshift hospital in the sports center in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, after a high-speed train derailed and collided with another train. (Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via AP)

An injured person is transported to the makeshift hospital in the sports center in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, after a high-speed train derailed and collided with another train. (Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via AP)

An injured person is transported by ambulance in Adamuz, near Córdoba, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, after a high-speed train derailed and collided with another train. (Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via AP)

An Arizona sheriff's department got more than 4,000 calls within 24 hours after the release of videos of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie's porch. Many tips will be worthless. Others could have merit. Experts say one thing's certain: They can't be ignored.

Tips can solve crimes — big or small — and eerie images of a mysterious male covered head to toe have been the most significant clues shared with the public during Guthrie's nearly 2-week-old disappearance in the Tucson area.

“It's a tremendous amount of work,” said Roberto Villaseñor, a former Tucson police chief.

“In a situation like this, you really cannot do what's been done without tips and public input,” he said. “They have processed the scene. But once that’s done and exhausted, it's hard to move forward without additional information coming in.”

The Pima County sheriff and the FBI announced phone numbers and a website to offer tips about the apparent kidnapping of Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. Several hundred detectives and agents have been assigned to the case, the sheriff's department said.

The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, the day Guthrie was reported missing. The sheriff's department, meanwhile, said it has taken at least 18,000 calls.

"Every tip is reviewed for credibility, relevance, and information that can be acted upon by law enforcement," the FBI said Thursday on X, adding that the effort is a 24-hour operation. It said it won't comment on the tips received.

Law enforcement agencies are continuing to gather potential evidence. Investigators found several gloves, the nearest about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Guthrie's home, and submitted them for lab analysis, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.

They collected DNA from Guthrie's property which doesn't belong to Guthrie or those in close contact with her, the department said. Investigators are working to identify who it belongs to.

The sheriff released a statement that stressed how his department is working with the FBI. “The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI continue to work jointly on this case. Our strong partnership is critical, and we remain fully committed to this collaborative investigation.”

Evidence requiring forensic analysis is being sent to the same out-of-state lab that has been used since the beginning of the case, something local FBI leadership agreed to, the department said.

Meanwhile, many people stopped Friday at KVOA-TV in Tucson, an NBC affiliate, to sign a large outdoor banner with a photo of Nancy Guthrie and the message “Bring her home.”

“They're like family, you know,” said Sandy Bryant, referring to her yearslong enjoyment of the “Today” show and the Guthrie family's local ties. “It's painful. It's scary, very scary.”

Major U.S. crimes for years have been cracked with a tip. In 1995, the brother and sister-in-law of Ted Kaczynski recognized certain tones in an anonymous, widely published anti-technology manifesto. Known by the FBI as the “Unabomber,” Kaczynski was found living in a shack in Montana and subsequently admitted to committing 16 bombings over 17 years, killing three people.

The 1989 murders of an Ohio woman and two teen daughters in Florida were solved three years later when St. Petersburg police asked the public if they recognized handwriting found in the victims' car. A former neighbor led investigators to Oba Chandler.

Retired Detroit homicide investigator Ira Todd recalled how images from a gas station camera solved the disappearance and death of a 3-month-old baby — and stopped authorities from pursuing the wrong person in 2001. “A niece of this guy saw it on TV and says, ‘That’s my uncle,’” he said.

The murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022 generated nearly 40,000 tips to state and federal authorities. None had a direct role in the capture of Bryan Kohberger, but the public's involvement nonetheless was “absolutely” important, said Lt. Darren Gilbertson of the Idaho State Police.

“That's one of the things that kept us going for weeks,” he said, while authorities awaited DNA and other evidence.

Gilbertson said much of the early vetting in the Idaho murders was done by the FBI. He said agents and analysts who were screening tips had a good grasp of what information could be spiked and what should be handed up to key investigators. Some tips arrived by regular mail.

“Aliens to bears to crazy conspiratorial ideas — don't even pass that along,” Gilbertson said.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Hours before her family knew she was gone, a porch camera recorded video of a person with a backpack who was wearing a ski mask, long pants, jacket and gloves — images that were released by the FBI along with a public plea for help.

The FBI on Thursday said the person, now a suspect, is a man about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a medium build. The agency also named the brand and model of the backpack.

Neighborhood resident Laura Gargano said she's tried to be helpful. She recommended that authorities look at an underground tank at Guthrie’s home, which was checked last weekend. She also told them that a rental house, not typical for the neighborhood, had recently been vacated.

“I noticed the cars were gone,” she told The Associated Press. “It could have been nothing, it could have been coincidental, but it was a change.”

The sheriff's department has not said whether any tips from the videos have advanced the investigation.

“I'm hopeful,” said Villaseñor, the former Tucson chief. “I have seen cases where simpler and less detailed information has helped bring somebody about. Maybe someone recognizes clothing, maybe the bag. You never know what someone will key on.”

Anyone with information: (800) 225-5324; (520) 351-4900; http://tips.fbi.gov

Associated Press reporters Ty ONeil in Tucson, Arizona, Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.

A banner reading "Bring her home" on a fence outside of the KVOA news station in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

Jeff Robb, a Seattle resident wintering in Tucson, signs a banner supporting Nancy Guthrie in Tucson Ariz., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

Jeff Robb, a Seattle resident wintering in Tucson, signs a banner supporting Nancy Guthrie in Tucson Ariz., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

People walk by Nancy Guthrie’s home in the early morning under cloudy skies on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

An investigator looks inside a culvert in the neighborhood where Annie Guthrie, whose mother Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than a week, lives just outside Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

A small vigil grows near Nancy Guthrie's house, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)