Spain train collision sparks protests, calls for transport minister’s resignation

Spanish trade union CSIF has demanded the resignation of transport minister Óscar Puente following a collision between two high-speed trains that killed at least 68 people and injured around 100, accusing him of shifting responsibility onto a railway official instead of accepting accountability.The crash occurred on Wednesday when a Renfe high-speed train travelling south from Madrid towards Seville collided with a stationary Iryo train. The collision followed a disruption to the railway safety system along a 63-km stretch of track between Madrid and Seville, which automatically stopped trains in the area, Puente said.The state-owned railway infrastructure manager Adif then took manual control of the system and allowed the Renfe train to continue despite a red signal, Puente said. He described the erroneous order as “inexplicable”.CSIF called on the government to respect the investigation and the presumption of innocence of Adif’s head of traffic.