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Young athlete and former minister among victims
BBC • • general
Key Points:
- A deadly train crash near Urda in central Spain killed 69 people, including a 24-year-old athlete and former government minister Fátima Báñez, and injured over 100 others, many seriously.
- The collision involved a high-speed Renfe train and a stationary Iryo train on the same track, causing carriages to derail and raising concerns that the death toll may increase.
- Victims' bodies have been taken to the main forensics institute in Toledo, where families are providing DNA samples to assist with identification.
- Fátima Báñez, who served as Spain’s employment minister from 2011 to 2018 and introduced controversial labor reforms, was mourned by the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations and regional leaders.
- The accident is Spain’s worst rail disaster since 2013 and the second major train crash in the country this year, deeply affecting both the athletics community and the political sphere.
