Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente announced his resignation from his post following a collision between two high-speed trains south of the capital Madrid, which resulted in the deaths of 69 people.
The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Puente stated at the end of a lengthy hearing before lawmakers dedicated to discussing the circumstances and repercussions of the accident: "It is not possible for a transport minister in a country like Spain to remain in office after two accidents of such severity in less than a year."
Puente clarified that he made the decision to resign immediately after the latest collision occurred, but did not announce it to the public at the time. The accident took place on October 28, when a high-speed train collided with another train stopped on the tracks, following a series of events that began with a failure of the primary communication system responsible for operating the safety system on the Madrid-Seville line.
Observers at the control center in the capital Madrid managed train traffic and authorized a train belonging to the state-owned company Renfe to continue its journey, despite a stopped train belonging to the company Iryo being ahead of it. This is the second incident of its kind on the Madrid-Seville line this year, as a train derailed in January and collided with an oncoming train, resulting in the deaths of 46 people.
The two accidents have raised growing concerns about the safety of Spain's railway network, especially since the latest incident occurred four weeks before the national elections.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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