A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another high-speed train in southern Spain on Sunday, killing at least 21 people and injuring at least 73 others in the country’s deadliest train accident since at least 2013, authorities said.
The regional emergency services agency said 24 of the injured people were in serious condition. Juanma Moreno, president of the Andalusia government, said the death toll was expected to rise.
The trains collided at around 7:45 p.m. in Adamuz, near the city of Córdoba, along the main high-speed rail line connecting southern Spain with Madrid, the country’s landlocked capital.
The rear cars of the first train left the tracks and spilled onto the opposite track where another train was passing, causing the front two cars of the second train to also derail, Transport Minister Óscar Puente said.
The cause of the initial derailment was not immediately clear. Puente said the first train was just a few years old and that the section of track where the accident occurred had recently been renovated.
“The accident is extremely strange,” he said. “It happened on a straightaway. All the experts we have consulted are extremely baffled.”
The first train, operated by the private company Iryo, was traveling to Madrid from Málaga, on the country’s southern coast. The second train, operated by Spain’s national rail company, Renfe, had departed from Madrid and was bound for the southern city of Huelva, west of Seville.
Iryo said about 300 passengers were on board the first train at the time of the accident. Renfe has not said how many passengers the second train was carrying.
Spain ranks second worldwide in high-speed rail network length, behind China, according to the International Union of Railways.
Here’s what else to know:
— Rail suspensions: Rail traffic between Madrid and several major cities in southern Andalusia — including Córdoba, Seville, Málaga and Huelva — will be suspended Monday, Spain’s state-owned rail infrastructure agency said in a statement.
— The victims: The Andalusia government set up an advanced medical post at the crash site to treat victims, and the Córdoba city government issued an urgent appeal for doctors to help treat the injured.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.