Spain's transport minister resigns a week after train crash kills 69
Spain's transport minister Oscar Puente has resigned, a week after a horrific train crash in the country killed 69 people. He announced his resignation on Tuesday.
He also said he would not contest the snap general election due on 29 November. Puente said he was not only stepping down as transport minister but also withdrawing his name from the list of candidates for that election.
The crash happened last Wednesday outside the village of Urda, about 80 miles south of Madrid. A train of the state-owned rail company Renfe slammed into the back of a stationary train of the private Spanish operator Iryo. Sixty-nine people were killed.
The incident is being considered one of Europe's worst rail disasters of this century. After the crash, rail safety and the role of the relevant authorities came under wide discussion and criticism in Spain.
Puente had rejected the possibility of resigning several times after the crash. But on Tuesday, after a long hearing before lawmakers, he announced his resignation. A few hours earlier, at a press conference, he had set out various steps to increase rail safety and said the government would work relentlessly to restore public trust in the high-speed rail system.
Right-wing opposition parties and various labour organisations criticised his role. The opposition had been demanding his resignation. They accused the transport minister of trying to place all the blame for the crash on a worker at a control centre.
The crash, and another rail disaster earlier this year, have affected Spain's upcoming election campaign. In that election, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is trailing in opinion polls.
