CORDOBA (Spain), Jan 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain’s king and queen visited Tuesday the site of the collision of two high-speed trains that killed at least 42 people, as the country began three days of national mourning.
The country’s deadliest rail accident in more than a decade took place late Sunday when a train operated by rail company Iryo, travelling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region.
It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train heading to Huelva, which also derailed.
The official death toll rose to 42 by late Tuesday after another body was found in the wreckage, the regional government said.
More than 120 people were injured, with 37 still in hospital, including four children, it added.
Dressed in dark clothing, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia shook hands with emergency services workers near the spot where the mangled wreckage of the two trains remains.
They then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Cordoba where some of the injured are being treated.
Speaking to reporters after leaving the hospital, the king said he wanted to “convey the affection of the entire country” to the victims.
Santiago Salvador, a Portuguese national who broke a leg in the accident, said he felt lucky to be alive.
“It was a very tragic accident; it looked like hell. There were people who were very seriously injured,” Salvador, his face covered in cuts, told Portuguese state television RTP.
The two trains were carrying more than 500 passengers in total. — NNN-AGENCIES