Spanish transport minister resigns after train crash killed 69 people

Oscar Puente says helium could not ‘continue successful office’ aft 2 large bid accidents successful little than a year.

Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente has resigned little than a week aft 1 of the deadliest bid crashes successful the country’s history. He has besides withdrawn from the upcoming wide election.

Puente said connected Tuesday that helium had decided to resign instantly aft past week’s clang but remained successful bureau portion the authorities coordinated its archetypal response. The collision, the second large bid crash successful Spain successful little than a year, killed 69 radical successful cardinal Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha region.

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“A transport curate successful a state similar Spain cannot proceed successful bureau with 2 accidents of this severity successful little than a year,” Puente said, referring besides to a high-speed bid derailment successful January successful Andalusia that killed 46 people.

Last week connected Wednesday, a high-speed bid operated by state-owned Renfe slammed into a stationary bid astatine an estimated velocity of 60 to 200 kilometres per hr (100 to 125 miles per hour). The mishap happened connected the Madrid-Seville line.

Trains connected a peculiar agelong of the enactment had been ordered to halt aft a awesome failure. However, cardinal controllers successful Madrid, who had assumed power aft the failure, authorised the Renfe bid to proceed its journey, resulting successful a collision with a privately operated Iryo train.

In response, services connected the Madrid-Seville enactment person been reduced portion the Railway Safety Agency reviews the line’s information strategy and the authorities completes a delayed rollout of the ⁠European Rail Traffic Management System.

Other information measures to beryllium introduced see an artificial quality cause designed to trim quality mistake by detecting anomalies and monitoring conversations betwixt bid drivers and controllers.

Puente said Spain would beryllium the archetypal state to rotation retired specified a information mechanism.

Victims and their families are besides acceptable to person compensation aft Wednesday’s clang nether a 30-million-euro ($33.5m) assistance bundle announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Bereaved families volition person 72,121 euros ($80,776) successful nonstop assistance on with an adjacent magnitude successful beforehand compensation.