Spain's Sánchez loses a key ally before the election as his transport minister quits over a train crash that killed 69
The crash site near Urda, Toledo, on 28 October, where Spain's LZB collision-prevention system had failed 170 times in the year before the disaster, transport minister Oscar Puente revealed.Óscar Puente, pictured in October, whose resignation came as two injured US students — Leah Silver-Fajardo and Austin Hartman — remained hospitalised following the crash.
Óscar Puente told Spain's parliament on Tuesday evening that "a transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a year," ending days of resistance to calls for his resignation. He also withdrew from the Socialist Party's candidate lists for the 29 November general election. The crash on 28 October happened when a Renfe train ploughed into a stationary Iryo service after a computer failure knocked out automatic signalling, with investigators estimating the impact at 160 to 200 kph.
A second crash on the same Madrid-Seville line in January killed 46 people, making 2026 the deadliest year for Spanish rail in over a decade.
Opposition spokeswoman Ester Muñoz savaged Puente in parliament: 'You're so good at explaining why people die on trains, and so bad at preventing them from dying.'
Two Cal Poly students, Leah Silver-Fajardo and Austin Hartman, are among the injured; Silver-Fajardo is not expected home for at least two months.
