The death toll from a collision between two high-speed trains in southern Spain has risen to 39, with nearly 100 injured in the country’s worst train accident in decades.

The BBC reported this information on Monday (January 19), citing Spanish state broadcaster RTVE.

Spain’s rail authority ADIF said that a high-speed train travelling from Malaga to Madrid derailed near the town of Adamuz on Sunday evening (January 19) local time. At the time, it crossed into the opposite track and hit another train coming from the opposite direction, causing that train to derail as well.

The railway authority said that there were more than 400 passengers on both trains. The Andalusian emergency services department said at least 73 people were taken to hospital – 24 of them in serious condition, including four children.

Rescue teams said the train was twisted and twisted, making it difficult to recover survivors and bodies.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences for the train crash, saying Spain would have to endure a “night of deep sorrow” today.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the incident appeared to be “very unusual”, but the official cause was not yet known. An investigation is expected to take at least a month to determine what happened.

“The carriages are twisted. The metal is twisted. There are people trapped inside. We may have to move a dead person to rescue someone trapped. It is a very difficult and risky task,” Francisco Carmona, head of the Cordoba regional fire service, told RTVE.

All train services in Madrid and Andalusia were suspended after the accident, and train services will be closed on Monday.