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A commuter train collided with a construction crane in southeastern Spain on Thursday (22 January), injuring several passengers, days after a high-speed rail disaster in Andalusia killed at least 43 people.
The latest crash occurred on Thursday in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, when a FEVE commuter train operating on the Cartagena–Los Nietos line struck a crane in the Alumbres area. Spain’s state broadcaster TVE reported that several people were injured, though emergency services later confirmed that three passengers suffered minor injuries and none were in a serious condition.
Spain’s railway infrastructure operator Adif said rail traffic on the line was suspended after the crane encroached on the railway’s clearance area.
“Traffic is interrupted due to the invasion of the infrastructure’s clearance by a crane unrelated to railway operations,” Adif said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
Officials added that the train neither derailed nor overturned.
The incident comes just days after Sunday’s catastrophic high-speed train crash in Adamuz, Córdoba, in the southern region of Andalusia.
That collision left at least 43 people dead and 123 injured, six of them seriously, making it one of Spain’s deadliest rail disasters in recent years. Recovery operations remain under way at the site, with crews continuing to remove wreckage while investigators search for any remaining victims.
On Wednesday, Spain’s Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, acknowledged the “undeniable possibility” that marks found on the train’s wheels may have been caused by a defect in the tracks, as the investigation into the Córdoba crash continues.
Rail safety concerns deepened further on Tuesday night in Catalonia, when a train accident in Gelida, northeast Spain, killed a train driver and injured 37 passengers.
As a result, services on the Rodalies commuter rail network remain suspended on Thursday.
The AP-7 motorway southbound is also closed for 22 kilometres between Martorell and Vilafranca while crews remove the train and secure the track.

Train drivers have announced strike action for 9, 10 and 11 February, demanding stronger safety measures and improved infrastructure maintenance amid growing public concern over Spain’s rail network.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
The Middle East crisis intensifies after the deadly attack on the compound of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei on Saturday that killed him, other family members and senior figures. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military has enough stockpiled weapons to fight wars "forever"; in a social media post late on Monday. The remarks came hours before conflict in Iran and the Middle East entered its fourth day.
Türkiye raised its security level for Turkish-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz to Level 3 on Sunday (2 March). The development follows Iranian restrictions on shipping after U.S. and Israeli strikes and confirmation of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death.
Strikes across the Middle East are intensifying, fuelling travel disruption, driving up global energy prices and forcing diplomatic missions to shut their doors as tensions continue to rise.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and is capable of sustaining military action indefinitely, as the conflict with Iran entered its fourth day.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into a deadly attack on a girls’ primary school in Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 100 children. The U.S. has said its forces “would not” deliberately target a school.
U.S. first lady, Melania Trump chaired a UN Security Council meeting on children and education in conflict on Monday (2 March), a move criticised by Iran as hypocritical following U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered a UN warning about risks to children.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 3rd of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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