What began as an ordinary Sunday evening for passengers on the Alvia train quickly turned into a nightmare. The carriage was quiet—some were reading, others dozing, while some were already mentally home. No one suspected that in the next instant, a routine trip would become a fight for survival.
A sudden crash, a violent jolt—the world is turned upside down. People are thrown to the floor, shouts echo, luggage scatters across the coach, tables snap in half. In that moment, Francisco Arroyo, a 57-year-old truck driver, and his 24-year-old son Victor, both in different cars, realize something terrible has happened. Francisco’s first instinct is to call his wife, alerting her to the disaster, before rushing to help others.
Chaos reigns in the corridors. The conductor has a bloodied head, passengers are in shock, some unable to stand. Despite everything, Francisco and Victor keep their composure, opening doors and leading people outside. It’s night out—darkness, and a steep slope where two train cars have slid down. The father forbids his son from going back inside: the risk of electrical hazards is too great.
Panic and fear
Amid shattered windows and twisted metal, the first heroes emerge. Two severely injured passengers, not waiting for help, use an emergency hammer to break the glass and escape outside. At that moment, Francisco gets a call from his daughter Mabel, worried after hearing from her mother. He tries to calm her, but knows the situation is critical.
Another man in a bright jacket joins the group—no one knows him, but he immediately gets involved in the rescue operation. Together, they pull a little girl out of the trap, followed by a boy who, despite being in shock, manages to get out on his own. Groans are heard all around, someone is calling for help, someone else can’t move.
Suddenly, Viktor recognizes among the injured an acquaintance from the academy—Elena Fragio. She is trapped between the seats and writhing in pain. The men pull her out through a window: she has a broken pelvis and foot. But there’s no time to stop—there are still wounded left in the car.
A fight for survival
Next, they find Blanca—her head is cut and her arm injured. They carefully pull her out to safety. Valentina, pinned by metal structures, begs to call her relatives. Time seems to crawl unbearably slow, surrounded by darkness and screams.
At some point, a member of the civil guard appears. He takes charge: orders them to rescue first those showing signs of life and demands gloves to avoid further injuries. The men pull out another victim trapped between seats, and only then do the first firefighters arrive at the scene.
Francisco and Viktor, exhausted, climb up to the railway track. Medics and police are already at work there. The father is surprised to see another train passing along the next track—as if nothing has happened.
An ordeal lasting an hour
For nearly an hour, three ordinary passengers, without any special training, pulled the wounded from a mangled carriage, risking their own lives. Around them—total darkness, screams, blood, fear. No one knew how many people still needed help, or when rescuers would finally arrive.
While some fainted from pain, others, on the contrary, found the strength to help. That evening, on the railway outside Adamuz, new heroes emerged—and now the whole country is talking about their names.
