A former Spanish minister has been confirmed to be among the 69 people killed in Spain’s second deadly high-speed train crash this year.
Fátima Báñez served as minister for employment and social security while in government between 2011 and 2018. Her death was confirmed by the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), which she chairs.
The search for survivors among the wrecked carriages is ongoing on Thursday, following the crash on Wednesday that also injured more than 100 people.
“With deep sorrow, we bid farewell to Fátima Báñez, president of Fundación CEOE,” the organisation said. “Her warmth, generosity, and commitment leave an indelible mark on businesses and the entire CEOE team.”
The Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations, of which she is chair, and her former People’s Party had previously confirmed she was on board the train.
She was travelling on the derailed Iryo train before 9am on Wednesday morning, Democrata added.
As Spain reeled following its fourth deadly train crash this year, cranes worked through the night to lift the wreckage of the crash in a rural area in the Toledo province. Emergency workers were seen carrying what appeared to be a body wrapped in a blanket.
Spanish long jumper Julieta Gallego was confirmed on Thursday as being among those killed. The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation expressed its condolences following the death of the 24-year-old.
“The Spanish athletics family joins in the grief over the passing of Julieta Gallego, athlete of AD Sprint, in the train accident that occurred in Urda,” the federation (RFEA) said in a statement, offering its support to her family, friends and club teammates.
Families are anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.
Passengers were travelling between Madrid and the southern Andalusia region when an express train operated by Iryo was struck by a train operated by Renfe in Toledo. The Iryo train had been stationary due to a signal fault, a person briefed on the disaster said.
“Rescue teams are still working very carefully, because we still cannot say with certainty that there are no more victims trapped in the twisted wreckage," Esther Padilla, a spokeswoman for the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, told TVE.
"A canine unit was deployed yesterday. They will go back in today to make sure that nobody else remains there," she added.
Emiliano Garcia-Page, the region’s leader, said the death toll had risen to 69 people and that human remains had been found during overnight rescue efforts. Work now involved crane operations, particularly on a carriage that was still overturned.
"We do not believe there could be any more fatalities beneath that one, but I say this with caution," he said.
Police are now questioning staff at a control centre after Spain’s transport minister, Óscar Puente, suggested that the accident may have been caused by human error, as one of the trains had been told to resume its journey.
“It was the control centre, through its operators, that made the decision to resume traffic, under circumstances that, from our point of view, are inexplicable,” he said. “Clearly, it was a wrong decision.”
There were 544 people on board the two services between Madrid and Seville.
The incident is one of Spain’s deadliest rail disasters, and the worst since 78 people were killed when a high-speed train derailed near Santiago de Compostela in 2013.
The crash, which is the fourth deadly crash this year, raises further urgent questions over the safety of Spain’s railways.
On 18 January, a derailment and collision killed 46 and injured more than 100 on the line between Malaga and Madrid near Adamuz. Two days later, one person was killed and 41 injured when a commuter train crashed near Barcelona when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks.
On 12 February, a passenger train traveling from Madrid to Badajoz struck a car at a railroad crossing near Talavera de la Reina, in Toledo province, killing the driver.
Spain has been building Europe’s largest high-speed rail network for decades, and until this year, there had been no fatal incidents on its dedicated high-speed lines since the network opened in 1992.
Meanwhile, train drivers in Spain went ahead with a previously planned strike to press for more investment in railway safety a day after Europe's deadliest train accident since a 2013 derailment in Spain's Santiago de Compostela.
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