Spain's transport minister resigns after second train accident in a year
Óscar Puente leaves office almost a week after the collision in Urda that killed 69 people, BBC reports.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
Spain's transport minister, Óscar Puente, resigned on Tuesday (3), almost a week after the rail accident in Urda, Toledo, that killed 69 people on October 28, according to BBC News Mundo.
He was under growing pressure from opposition parties and some government allies. The announcement came at the end of a parliamentary session in which he presented new rail safety measures and was sharply questioned. The tragedy occurred nine months after another accident on the same Madrid-Seville line, which left 46 dead.
"The transport minister of a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents in a year," said Puente. He said he decided right after the Urda accident, but waited a few days to announce it.
In the collision, a train of the state-owned Renfe, leaving Madrid for Seville, hit from behind a train of the private company Iryo that was stopped on the track, at around 8:54 a.m. local time, about 140 km south of the capital. According to the operator Adif, there were 544 people on the two trains.