The cause of the collision between two high-speed trains near Adamuz (Córdoba) is not clear. Evangelicals in the region express their ‘deepest sorrow’ and offer their help ‘for whatever is necessary.’ Christians across the country unite in prayer as the search for survivors continues.
Images from a Guardia Civil helicopter show one of the trains after the crash in Adamuz on 18 January 2025. / Video capture Guardia Civil.
UPDATED: 19 January 15:42
The derailment of two high-speed trains (one belonging to the Spanish company Renfe and the other to the Italian company Iryo) claimed the lives of at least 39 people in Spain on Sunday night.
The serious accident occurred in the village of Adamuz, in the rural area of Córdoba, in southern Spain. The government's Minister of Transport has assured that technicians consider it ‘strange’ that it occurred on a straight stretch of track and that the trains were new and had passed the relevant checks.
152 people have been treated by medical personnel, but due to the difficulty of accessing some wagons that have fallen down a 4-metre embankment, it has been emphasised that the number of fatalities is not definitive. It is estimated that some 510 passengers were travelling on both trains, which were passing each other at the time of the accident.
[photo_footer]Police officers of the Guardia Civil on Monday 19 January investigating the place where the trains derrailed. / Video capture Guardia Civil. / Photo: Guardia Civial. [/photo_footer] After hearing the crash, residents in the town of Adamuz (4,000 inhabitants) came out to help the injured on the tracks and took them to a senior citizens' centre and other infrastructures in the town. Several took survivors into their homes, and doctors and other professionals from nearby towns rushed to the scene in the early hours. Emergency teams then evacuated the injured to hospitals.
All Evangelical Focus news and opinion, on your WhatsApp.
Residents who first arrived to the scene have escribed the devastation as they tried to rescue survivors and the shock of seeing child casualties.
Evangelical Focus and Spanish news website Protestante Digital have contacted Christian organisations in the region, which have so far not given information about whether there are members of evangelical churches among the dead. Church leaders expressed their sorrow, prayers and availability (see below).
On Monday morning, all political activity in Spain was cancelled and the Prime Minister travelled to the area. More than 200 trains were cancelled the following day.
[photo_footer]Aerial images of one of the trains involved in the accident on Monday morning./ Photo: Guardia Civial. [/photo_footer] “We express our deepest sorrow for the tragic train accident that occurred in Adamuz (Córdoba). We join in prayer for the families who today mourn the loss of their loved ones and for the recovery of the injured”, said the Evangelical Council of Andalusia (CEAA) the following morning.
“We trust in the promise of Scripture: ‘God is our refuge and strength, our ready help in times of trouble’ (Psalm 46:1)”, the CEAA added. “We are grateful for the work of the emergency teams and we place ourselves at the disposal of the authorities for whatever we can contribute as a Christian community at this time of grief”.
Other evangelical groups, both locally and nationally, have reacted to an accident for which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has already decreed three days of official mourning.
The Provincial Evangelical Council of Córdoba (the province where the crash occurred) has issued a statement offering its condolences and adding its willingness to collaborate with the authorities. “As an entity representing the evangelical churches in the province, we have made our human resources and our collaboration available to the Government Sub-delegation and the Government Delegation of the Andalusian Regional Government, in order to contribute, to the best of our ability, to the care and support that this situation requires”.
At the national level, the Spanish Evangelical Alliance asked through its networks for “prayers for those who have suffered losses and for all the emergency teams who have worked tirelessly”.
Sociedad Bíblica encourages nearby churches to be “sensitive” and “available”. “May Christians, as Jesus did so many times, approach pain without fear, with compassion and without judgement, bringing comfort, listening and serving”.
The Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities FEREDE has called for “prayers for the authorities, emergency teams, experts and specialists working to clarify the causes of the accident”.
The government has set up several telephone lines to assist the families of the victims of the train accident, while rescue and investigation work continues on the ground to clarify the causes of one of the most serious train accidents recorded in Spain in recent years.
Spain experienced its worst railway accident in 2013 when 79 people died in a collision in Santiago de Compostela.
[analysis]
[title]Join us to make EF sustainable[/title]
[photo][/photo]
[text]At Evangelical Focus, we have a sustainability challenge ahead. We invite you to join those across Europe and beyond who are committed with our mission. Together, we will ensure the continuity of Evangelical Focus and our Spanish partner Protestante Digital in 2025.
Learn all about our #TogetherInThisMission initiative here (English).
[/text][/analysis]
Las opiniones vertidas por nuestros colaboradores se realizan a nivel personal, pudiendo coincidir o no con la postura de la dirección de Protestante Digital.
Si quieres comentar o