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Train collides with crane in Spain’s fourth rail crash in a week, four injured

By Thomson Reuters Jan 22, 2026 | 5:52 AM

MADRID, Jan 22 (Reuters) – A commuter train collided with a crane in southeastern Spain on Thursday, emergency services said, in ‍the country’s fourth rail crash in less than a week.

Four people suffered minor injuries in the crash near the port city of Cartagena in Murcia region, authorities added.

“The train hasn’t been overturned ‌or derailed,” a spokesperson for ‌Murcia’s emergency services said. The first calls about the crash came in just after noon, they added.

Spain is still reeling from Sunday’s high-speed train collision in ​the southern Andalusia region that killed at least 43 people.

Two days after that, ‍a commuter train derailed after ​a containment wall fell on ​the track due to heavy rain near the ‍city of Barcelona, killing the driver and seriously injuring four passengers.

The main train drivers’ union called a nationwide strike over safety standards after that and a second collision in ‍the northeastern Catalonia region the same day, Tuesday.

On Thursday, Spanish rail operator Adif said traffic on the ‍line in ‍Murcia was disrupted by what it ​described as “the intrusion into the infrastructure ​gauge ⁠by a crane not belonging ‌to the railway operation”.

Its message on X did not go into more detail.

A later posting said services had resumed on the line.

(Reporting by David Latona and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Aislinn Laing and ⁠Andrew Heavens)