Spain’s king and queen have visited the site of the collision of two high-speed trains that killed at least 41 people as the country began three days of national mourning.
The country’s deadliest rail accident in over a decade took place late Sunday when a train operated by rail company Iryo, travelling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region.
It crossed onto the other track, where an oncoming train crashed into it, also derailing.
The death toll rose to 41 after the body of a passenger was recovered on Monday evening from one of the Iryo train carriages, the regional government said.
Over 120 people were injured, with 39 still in hospital, including four children, it added.
Dressed in dark clothing, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia shook hands with emergency services workers near the spot where the mangled wreckage of the two trains remains.
The royal couple were scheduled to visit injured passengers later on Tuesday at a hospital in the nearby city of Cordoba.
Flags flew at half-mast on public buildings, television anchors wore black, and cabinet ministers curtailed public appearances as Spain observed the first of three days of national mourning.
During a visit to Adamuz on Monday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez vowed a full and transparent investigation into the cause of the accident.
The derailment occurred on a straight section of track, and the trains were travelling within the speed limit, officials said.
Transport Minister Óscar Puente said investigators must determine whether a broken section of rail, visible in media photos, was “the cause or the result” of the derailment of the Iryo train that led to the collision.
He said the Iryo train was “practically new” and the section of the track where the disaster happened had been recently renovated, making the accident “extremely strange.”
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said “the possibility of sabotage was never considered.”
