A six-year-old girl has become the only survivor of her family in Sunday’s devastating train crash in southern Spain, which killed 42 people. The child was found walking along the tracks near Adamuz in the Córdoba province of Andalucía, having sustained only a minor head wound. Her parents, brother and cousin all died in the collision.
The family had travelled to Madrid to see the Lion King musical and visit the Bernabéu stadium, a treat for the Epiphany holiday. On their return journey, a high-speed train from Málaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz, crossing onto another track and hitting an oncoming train from Madrid to Huelva.
The girl was cared for overnight by a police officer before being reunited with her grandmother in Córdoba. The mayor of Aljaraque, the family’s home town, said the community was “broken with grief and almost without words of comfort”.
Other families also shared harrowing stories. Alberto García told Antena 3 that his pregnant daughter was in intensive care with serious injuries. Doctors had sedated her and placed her on a ventilator, monitoring the baby’s heartbeat. Relatives said firefighters pulled her unconscious from the wreckage after passengers smashed windows to escape.
Her sister Ana, who was travelling with her and their dog Boro, suffered lighter injuries. Boro remains missing. Ana told El Mundo: “If I can’t do anything for her, at least I hope I can find Boro.” Spain began three days of national mourning on Monday to honour the dead.
