Spain's transport minister quits over train crash that killed 69

Madrid — Spain's transport minister, Óscar Puente, resigned on Tuesday over the train crash that killed 69 people last week, a disaster described as one of the worst railway accidents in Europe this century. He also withdrew his candidacy from the country's early general election on 29 November.

Puente announced his decision at the end of a lengthy parliamentary hearing, having ruled out resigning on several occasions since the crash. "I wish to inform you that I am not only stepping down from my position as minister of transport, but that I am also withdrawing my name from the lists for the early legislative elections on 29 November," he told lawmakers, The Guardian reported.

Hours earlier, at a press conference presenting new rail safety measures, Puente had said the government would "work tirelessly to achieve and regain the public's trust in high-speed rail". Spain's network is the second-largest of its kind in the world.

The rightwing opposition had demanded Puente's resignation, and unions had criticised him for appearing to pin blame elsewhere, according to the South China Morning Post. The dead included foreign nationals, among them citizens of the United States, Japan and Canada; a second Japanese national has now been confirmed among the victims.

The crash, together with another railway disaster earlier this year, has overshadowed campaigning for the 29 November ballot, in which Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is trailing in opinion polls. Puente's exit removes one of the government's most visible defenders of its rail record less than a month before voting day.

What happens next will be measured on two tracks: the findings of the crash investigation, and the election itself on 29 November, when voters will deliver their own verdict on the government's handling of the disaster.