Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia have expressed their ‘concern’ and ‘distress’ over the ‘terrible’ train accident in Cordoba, which has left at least 39 people dead.
Speaking from Athens, the King said they would return to Spain ‘as soon as possible’ in order to organise ‘some form of presence’ in the affected area.
He also referred to the ‘desperation’ being experienced by families following the disaster.
The remarks were made while the royal couple continued an official visit to the Greek capital for family reasons.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia were accompanied by their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, as they attended the funeral of Irene of Greece, the King’s aunt, who died last Thursday.
During the appearance, the seriousness of the rail accident in Adamuz was underlined, with the provisional death toll standing at at least 39.
King Felipe confirmed that since Sunday evening he has been in contact with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the president of the Andalusian regional government, Juanma Moreno, to receive updates on the incident, which has caused ‘so many victims’, while rescue operations remain ongoing.
Once the funeral concludes, the King said, the royal family will return to Spain ‘as soon as possible’ to closely follow developments and visit the area.
‘I understand the desperation of the families,’ he added.
Queen Letizia stressed that emergency teams and technical services are continuing to search for possible victims and said that ‘the priority now is to attend to, support, help and assist’ everyone affected by what she described as a ‘brutal’ accident.
King Felipe also thanked residents of Adamuz for the help they provided ‘overnight and on the spot’ to those affected. The accident occurred on Sunday at around 7.45pm.
