Santiago rail tragedy: Injured MP says the government and rail board should be held accountable, not the driver
Thursday, August 22, 2013 @ 6:06 PM
A MEMBER of Parliament for Madrid on the reigning PP party who was injured in the Santiago train crash has called for the ministry of public works to be held liable.
Teresa Gómez Limón was travelling on the ill-fated train from the capital destined for the northernmost Galicia port city of Ferrol on July 24 when it derailed at high speed, killing 79 people and injuring over 170.
The MP, who was returning to Ferrol to spend some time on holiday with her family after having been to an assembly meeting in Madrid, said minister Ana Pastor 'should have made sure the trains and lines were completely safe'.
And she does not believe the driver was at fault, saying the issue was the inferior braking system on the track.
“José Blanco [former socialist minister of public works until November 2011], when he cut the red tape on the new high-speed line linking Galicia with Madrid, did so without the correct safety measures in place, which to me, is fraud.
“But when Ana Pastor took over, she should have taken it upon herself to really investigate rail safety, particularly on high-speed lines where the risk is much greater,” Gómez Limón stated in a recent interview.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com