Symbolic imageSpain train crash toll holds at 69 as investigators cite chain of faults and polls turn against Sánchez
Independent investigators say a series of faults, instructions and procedures led to the Urda train collision that killed 69. Polls show the disaster costing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez support ahead of the 29 November election.
The preliminary report of the independent investigators of AITAT points to "a whole series of faults, instructions and procedures", according to Politika, while the government points to possible human error. The Financial Times reports that a failure in a safety system run by state-owned Adif let a controller unwittingly send one train into the rear of a stationary one on the Madrid-Seville line on Wednesday, 28 October. Forensic teams have identified 66 of the 69 dead, 54 of them Spaniards, and rescuers are still searching the site. It is the second deadly accident on the line after Adamuz, where 46 died.
Polls turn against the Socialists
In a Sigma Dos poll published on Monday, the Socialists fell 1.5 points to 24.6 per cent, behind the People's Party on 31.1 and Vox on 19.3, the FT reports. Breitbart, citing a SocioMétrica poll for El Español, says PP, Vox and UPN-PP would win 203 of 350 seats.
Pressure on the transport minister
Óscar Puente is due to present the investigation report to the cabinet on Tuesday and then to a Congress committee, where opposition parties and government partners are expected to demand his resignation, Politika reports, citing El País. Sánchez has promised to restore trust in high-speed rail and a victims' aid package.