Spain celebrates ‘miracle child’ sole survivor of family killed in train wreck

Punta Umbria has declared three days of mourning for victims

Broken windows of a crashed train are photographed at the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Amidst the horrific aftermath of a train derailment in southern Spain, where twisted metal and bodies lay scattered, a six-year-old girl miraculously emerged virtually unscathed.

The train car had hurtled off the tracks, sliding down a steep slope and ripping open its frame, creating a scene of devastation marked by the cries of the injured and the silence of the dead.

According to La Vanguardia, a Civil Guard officer discovered the child barefoot on the tracks, having escaped through a broken window.

Her relative, Juan Barroso, confirmed the six-year-old is "in good health" after receiving three stitches to her head at a hospital. The mayor of her family's village, situated near the ill-fated rail line, expressed finding "a measure of solace" in the child's safety.

“There are many people who are very sad for the victims of this terrible accident, but there were also many who survived, like the miracle of the girl who is safe,” Punta Umbria's Mayor José Carlos Hernández told reporters Tuesday after leading a minute of silence for the victims.

Among them were the girl's parents, brother and a cousin. At least 41 people were killed in the brutal accident that has shaken the nation and left the 6-year-old child an orphan.

Punta Umbria has declared three days of mourning for victims including the family. They were seated in the front carriages that bore the brunt of the impact when a train coming the opposite direction suddenly jumped its track for reasons still unknown.

Mayor Hernández said that the girl is now with her grandparents in a hotel in Cordoba, the nearest city to the crash.

“She has a tremendous family who will do what it takes for her to have a happy life,” the mayor said.

In this grab taken from video provided by Guardia Civil, rescue workers at the scene after a high speed train collision, in Adamuz, Spain, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Guardia Civil via AP) (Guardia Civil)

Meanwhile, rescuers used cranes and heavy machinery on Tuesday to gain access to the worst-hit carriages in one of Europe's deadliest train crashes as they sought to recover the remains of people still missing in a disaster that left at least 41 dead.

Spaniards are reeling following the first-ever deadly accident on the country's extensive high-speed rail network, which occurred on Sunday evening near Adamuz in Cordoba province, about 360 km (223 miles) south of Madrid. Experts say a faulty rail joint might be key to determining the cause of the derailment that led to the collision between two trains.

Emergency services used heavy machinery overnight and in the early hours of Tuesday to level the ground around the front carriages of the train belonging to the state-run Alvia service, which had plunged down a 4-metre (13.1 ft) embankment after the crash, and the rear carriages of the train operated by private consortium Iryo, the Andalusian regional government said in a statement.

Two cranes were added to the rescue operation, the government said.

The collision occurred in rolling, olive-growing countryside in the foothills of a mountain range in a site only reachable by a single-track road that made it difficult for rescuers to access it with heavy machinery.