The Psychological Intervention Group for Emergencies and Disasters of Eastern Andalucía, with psychologists from Málaga, assisted victims and families of the railway disaster in Adamuz, which left 46 dead and 126 injured.
The Psychological Intervention Group for Emergencies and Disasters (GIPED) of Eastern Andalucía has assisted victims and families of the Adamuz railway accident, which occurred on January 18, 2026, according to Diario Sur. The disaster occurred when an Iryo train covering the Málaga-Madrid route derailed and invaded the adjacent track, where an Alvia Madrid-Huelva was travelling. The toll was 46 dead and 126 injured.
The operation deployed in the Córdoba locality involved 39 psychologists who worked in eight-hour shifts alongside Red Cross and 112 personnel. Coordinated by Óscar Lirio, the team assisted survivors and those waiting for news of their relatives, first in Adamuz and then at the Civic Centre of Córdoba.
“Emergency psychology in that crisis intervention must constantly adapt to the person in front of you, to their emotions and the uncertainty they manage”
Lirio, who participated in the XXVII Annual Convention of the Official College of Psychology of Eastern Andalucía (COPAO), held with over 400 professionals, explained that the work focuses on crisis intervention, not on subsequent therapy. “These families who are experiencing such terrible moments are having normal reactions to an abnormal situation,” he noted. The goal, he added, is to accompany them using techniques such as emotional ventilation and active listening to connect them with normality.
The psychologist described the Adamuz incident as “the intervention of the highest emotional impact and the largest” of his team. The operation lasted several days, with continuous presence from the very first moment, and required shifts: “we still had 20 professionals on standby,” indicated Lirio, who emphasised the need to optimise resources and ensure the rest of the interveners.
The president of COPAO, Mariela Checa, highlighted that this specialty “makes a difference” in helping a person manage a traumatic situation more adaptively and reduces the risk of chronicity. Checa detailed that the usual psychological consequences include post-traumatic stress, ongoing distress, repeated memories, constant alertness, and sleep and eating problems.
The GIPED spokesperson, Gema Plaza, pointed out that reactions vary from person to person: some prefer silence and discreet presence, while others need to talk about what happened, their fear, or uncertainty. The group has also intervened in the earthquakes in Granada and the fires in Almería, sometimes via telephone.
The accident also caused the suspension of high-speed connections between Madrid and Andalucía, including those to Málaga, Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Cádiz, and Algeciras, while the damaged trains were removed and the infrastructure assessed.
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