What we know about Spain's worst rail disaster in over a decade

At least 43 people have died and dozens more have been injured after two high-speed trains collided in southern Spain, local authorities have said.

The crash at Adamuz, near the city of Córdoba, is Spain's worst rail disaster more than a decade.

Here's what we know about the incident so far.

The crash occurred at around 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT) on Sunday, about an hour after a train run by private firm Iryo left Málaga for Madrid.

The last three carriages of the Iryo train - carriages six to eight - derailed and crossed over to the opposite track.

Those carriages collided with an oncoming train operated by state company Renfe travelling from south Madrid to Huelva, which was forced into an embankment running alongside the track, Spain's Transport Minister Óscar Puente said.

The majority of those killed and injured were in the front carriages of the Huelva-bound Renfe train.

There were around 400 passengers and staff on the two trains, according to Renfe.

Lucas Merayo, who was in the fifth car of the Madrid-bound Iryo train, told the BBC that about an hour into the journey, it became very bumpy. Passengers became scared and the carriage went silent, he said, "and then we heard a crash" and the train stopped.

Luggage fell and the lights went out. Then they started to hear noises of pain and screams from the three carriages behind them that had derailed, he said.

He and his girlfriend were uninjured, but people were in shock and crying, some experiencing panic attacks. A nurse beside him responded to a call for medical volunteers, and when she came back from the sixth carriage she told him someone had died.

Surviving passengers from the derailed carriages broke glass and went on the tracks to escape. Passengers helped one another get down, and he saw seriously injured people, with bleeding heads and improvised bandages.

The first on the scene were people from Adamuz, some in their pyjamas, who offered to transport the injured, Lucas Merayo said.

After two hours, they were evacuated by bus and Lucas eventually made it back home to Madrid on Monday morning, when he hugged his eight-year-old son and began to cry.

"It's really, really shocking and overwhelming to be alive when everyone else is not," said the actor and influencer, who is from Argentina.

He said the experience of the crash is "going to be with me all the time".

As it was dark, he had not realised the oncoming train had fallen into an embankment until he saw it on the news.

The president of the Andalusian regional government, Juanma Moreno, told local outlet Canal Sur they had to bring in "heavy machinery" to "practically lift" parts of the second train, which "has taken the worst part of this accident".

"The problem is that the carriages are twisted, so the metal is twisted with the people inside," Francisco Carmona, head of firefighters in Córdoba, told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.

"We have even had to remove a dead person to be able to reach someone alive. It is hard, tricky work," he added.

Rescuers continued to search the wreckage until Wednesday when a 43rd victim was found.

What caused the train to derail remains unclear. The transport minister, Óscar Puente, described the crash as "extremely strange" and said all the railway experts consulted by the government "are extremely baffled by the accident".

An investigation has been launched but it is not expected to determine what happened for at least a month.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska was quick to rule out sabotage but said all other hypotheses were being considered.

The head of Renfe "discarded" the possibility that the incident occured due to excessive speed or human error. Álvaro Fernández Heredia said even if a mistake had been made, a system within the train would have fixed it and both trains were travelling under the maximum speed limit.

Investigators have been focusing on a 30cm gap in the straight section of track that the Iryo train passed over and the transport secretary has said they are assessing if that broken section was the "cause or the result" of the crash.

Óscar Puente has confirmed reports that grooves the size of a coin were found on the wheels of the first five carriages of the Iryo train that went over the track safely before the next three carriages derailed. Two or three trains that had gone over the track shortly beforehand had similar notches, he added.

Experts have suggested that a welding failure on the track may have led to it breaking.

Meanwhile, a transcript has been published by daily El País of calls to the control centre in Madrid from the Iryo driver and from the conductor on the Renfe train.

The Iryo driver is initially unaware his train has been involved in a severe crash. The control centre is unable to reach the driver of the Renfe train so contacts the conductor who says "I have blood on my head. I don't know if I'll be able to reach the train driver".

• Shock and confusion as Spain struggles for answers

The 43 people who died in the crash have not yet officially been identified.

One of the victims was María del Carmen Abril, a teacher, who was returning from her surprise 50th birthday party to Madrid, her friend told the BBC.

Jose Manuel Muñoz described Abril, as she was known, as a "lovely, generous, affectionate person who loved flowers and was always trying to solve other people's problems".

Victor Luis Terán, a Bolivian national, died on the train heading south to Huelva, after taking an earlier train because of a last-minute change in plans, his sister-in-law said.

• Loved ones of victims reeling

A total of 123 people were injured. As of Wednesday morning, 37 people remained in hospital, including four children. Nine people were in intensive care.

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