Spain's transport minister said traffic control errors caused the deadly train crash near Toledo, and that a judge will investigate the controllers' actions, according to the New York Times. That includes authorizing a train to proceed at high speed although another train was stalled in front of it, the newspaper reported.
The crash killed 69 people, according to Al Jazeera. At 8:53 a.m. on Wednesday, a high-speed train travelling from Madrid to Seville hit the back of a stationary train on the same track close to Toledo, south of the capital.
Spanish officials had earlier pointed to a failure involving the LZB train-control system, which has been used on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line since it opened in the 1990s. Transport Minister Oscar Puente rejected claims that the accident showed the railway system was unsafe, calling it "reliable and safe" while acknowledging the limits imposed by equipment and human error.
Isabel Pardo de Vera, the former president of Adif, the state-owned company that manages Spain's rail infrastructure, criticized the government over the transition from the older LZB system to the European Rail Traffic Management System.
The crash came nine months after a similar disaster and has shifted the focus of the Nov. 29 election campaign. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist Party had been campaigning on Spain's housing crisis. Rail safety, infrastructure and the government's ability to deliver public services are now central issues.
Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said the party would suspend campaign activities for two days. "This is the moment to respect the dead, the injured and their families. That does not mean we will ignore the fact that Spaniards are asking tough questions that demand answers," he said.
Vox leader Santiago Abascal accused Sanchez of "criminal handling of affairs" in a post on X. Hundreds of mostly far-right demonstrators gathered outside the Transport Ministry to demand the prime minister's resignation.
The latest polls this week put the Socialists at 26.7 per cent, behind the Popular Party at 31.5 per cent. Vox is third at 19.1 per cent.
Comments (0)
Please log in to comment.
No comments yet.