Prince Albert II has expressed his shock and sadness following the train crash in southern Spain that killed at least 39 people on Sunday.

In an official message to King Felipe VI, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene on Monday offered their condolences to the families of victims and those injured in the collision near Córdoba.

“My family and the people of Monaco join me in expressing our great sorrow following this tragedy,” the Prince wrote. “Our thoughts are with the bereaved families and the injured.”

What happened

A Madrid-bound train derailed and crossed onto opposite tracks, colliding with an oncoming train near Adamuz on Sunday evening.

The collision occurred at 7:45pm local time, about an hour after the train departed Málaga for Madrid.

Most of those killed and injured were in the front carriages of the second train, which was travelling south from Madrid to Huelva.

‘Extremely strange’ circumstances

Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente described the crash as “extremely strange” and “very difficult to explain.”

He told reporters the accident occurred on a straight section of track that had been completely renovated in May following major investment, and that the derailed train was “practically new.”

The president of state rail operator Renfe, which operated one of the trains, said he had “discarded” the possibility of excessive speed or human error.

Álvaro Fernández Heredia told Spanish national radio that both trains were travelling below the 250km/h maximum speed limit for that stretch of track, and that safety systems would have corrected any driver error.

He pointed to either a mechanical fault or infrastructure issue as more probable causes, but said it was “very complicated” to reach conclusions so soon after the incident.

Rail company Iryo said the Madrid-bound train, built in 2022, had been inspected four days before the crash.

Investigation underway

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez cancelled his Monday schedule and planned trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos to visit the crash site.

His office said the visit aimed “to get first-hand information” on the collision.

Transport Minister Puente said it would take at least a month for investigation results to be released, adding that rail experts were “very surprised by this accident.”

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Photo credit: @eleanorinthesky via X