Spain's transport minister blames an 'inexplicable' control centre order for the high-speed crash that killed 68, and refuses resignation calls
Mangled wreckage on its side after two high-speed trains collided in Toledo province, Spain, killing at least 39 people and leaving survivors scrambling clear while passengers remained trapped.Smoke rises from derailed carriages between Los Yébenes and Urda after the crash, which emergency crews feared could surpass the Adamuz disaster, where 46 people died in January.
Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente has disclosed that a 1960s-era automatic safety system went down across a 63km section of track near Toledo, bringing six trains to a standstill. Control centre operators in Madrid then instructed one Renfe high-speed train to proceed at normal speed — directly into a stationary Iryo train ahead, killing 68 people and injuring 80. Puente described the order as "inexplicable" and said it violated protocol. Three days of national mourning have been declared.
Asked whether he would resign, Puente said: 'At this moment, what I am thinking about is clarifying this — I am not thinking about myself.'
Train drivers' unions had already planned a 24-hour safety strike for Thursday, demanding 'real and definitive technical solutions' to long-standing reliability problems.
Wednesday's crash is Spain's second fatal high-speed collision this year — a January disaster near Adamuz killed 46 — leaving the country's world-leading rail network under serious scrutiny.
