High-speed trains collide after one derails in southern Spain, killing at least 20
Madrid (AP): A high-speed train derailed, jumped onto the track in the opposite direction and slammed into an oncoming train Sunday in southern Spain, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more, officials said.
The evening train between Malaga and Madrid went off the rails near Cordoba and slammed into a train coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif. The two trains were carrying around 500 passengers, according to media reports.
Antonio Sanz, regional health minister for the Andalusia region where the crash happened, said officials told him they fear the death toll may rise above 20.
Rescue operations are ongoing, he said, adding that 73 injured passengers have been taken to six different hospitals.
He said at least one passenger carriage had rolled down a four-metre slope.
Francisco Carmona, the firefighter chief of Cordoba, told Spanish national radio RNE that one of the trains was badly mangled, with at least four wagons off the rails.
The situation at the crash site “is very serious,” Sanz said. “We have a very difficult night ahead.”
The regional Civil Protection chief, Maria Belen Moya Rojas, told Canal Sur the accident happened in an area that is hard to reach.
Local people were taking blankets and water to the scene to help the victims, she said.
High-speed trains, running on an extensive national network, are a popular way to travel in Spain.
Spain's military emergency relief units joined the deployment of other rescue units. The Red Cross also provided support to healthcare officials.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that she was following “the terrible news” from Cordoba.
“Tonight you are in my thoughts,” she wrote in Spanish.
ADIF said train services between Madrid and cities in Andalucia would not run Monday.
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NIA court to complete framing of charges against 2010 hand-chopping case accused on May 15
Kochi (PTI): A special court here will complete proceedings for framing charges against the prime accused in the 2010 hand-chopping case involving professor T J Joseph, in which PFI activists were accused of attacking him at Muvattupuzha.
Ernakulam Special Court for NIA cases judge P K Mohandas, on April 30, heard the arguments of counsel for accused Savad and Shafeer C and decided to proceed with framing charges against the duo.
A group chopped off Thodupuzha Newman College professor Joseph's right hand in July 2010, accusing him of religious blasphemy in a question paper he had prepared.
The case, later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), resulted in the conviction of 19 accused.
The first accused, Savad, who allegedly chopped off Joseph’s palm, was arrested in Berram in Mattannur, Kannur, in January 2024, where he had allegedly been hiding under the pseudonym Shajahan.
The NIA also arrested Shafeer, who allegedly arranged shelter and provided logistical support to Savad at Chakkad and Mattannur in Kannur since 2020.
On April 30, the court heard the counsel for the accused and the NIA prosecutor on framing charges against the duo.
"On going through the documents and evidence in the case and on hearing the counsel for the accused and the prosecutor, I am of the opinion that there are grounds for presuming that the first accused has committed offences punishable under provisions of the IPC, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and that the second accused has committed offences punishable under the IPC and the UAPA, and there are materials for framing charges under these provisions against the accused," the court said.
The court directed that Savad be produced and Shafeer, who is on bail, appear before it on May 15 for recording their pleas as part of the charge-framing process.
After framing the charges, the court will schedule the trial in the case.
