EU prosecutor office investigates fatal train crash in Spain

The EU office carries out probes at Spanish rail network administrator, safety agency and state auditors.

The European Union’s public prosecutors have launched a probe into possible fraud in the financing of Spain’s rail network after a high-speed train crash killed at least 69 passengers last month.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said on Friday that it had carried out investigations ‌at the headquarters of Spain’s railway infrastructure manager, its railway safety agency and its court of auditors to determine possible fraud in the financing of the ⁠Madrid-Seville high-speed line.

“Today, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Madrid (Spain) is conducting investigative measures at the Administrator of Railway Infrastructure (ADIF), the State Railway Safety Agency (AESF) and the Court of Auditors in Spain,” a statement from the prosecutors said.

“This comes after the opening of an investigation into possible fraud affecting EU funds allocated to the renovation and upgrading of safety, signaling and communications systems on the Madrid-Seville high-speed railway line,” the EPPO added.

Spain’s rail infrastructure manager, Adif, confirmed the visit from the EPPO to the Reuters news agency, stating that it complied with the search and provided any requested information. The other two organisations did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The October 28 train collision in Urda, Toledo province, was the second fatal crash this year and led to the resignation of Transport Minister Oscar Puente.

Resignations

The EPPO had already carried out a probe into the Spanish rail network in March, after a high-speed train crash in the Adamuz region killed 46 passengers in January.

There are no updates on this investigation, which looks into how the EU funds for track maintenance were used on the network line.

EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas expressed concern at a news briefing on Wednesday over the proximity of the two fatal accidents, calling it “very worrying” and “not something we want to see”.

Tzitzikostas also noted that Spain reached out to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) to assist with an ongoing national investigation.

Puente resigned on Tuesday, in what he described as a “matter of political dignity”, and Adif President Luis Pedro Marco de la Pena quit the next day. Spain’s Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo will fill in for Puente’s role until the elections in Spain later this month, which could be hampered and influenced by last month’s tragedy.

At the end of October, soon after the crash in Urda, survivors from three of Spain’s most fatal train crashes gathered to demand better safety procedures and larger investment into network maintenance to avoid further tragedies.

“Now we have seen three dreadful crashes in Spain, at Angrois, Adamuz and Urda. They will keep happening if we do not act,” train crash survivor Cristobal Gonzalez told Al Jazeera.

“At Angrois, the driver was going too fast; at Adamuz, an investigation said there was a problem on the track; and at Urda, it might have been human error and a problem with the control system. Whatever, we must stop these crashes happening by investing more in safety,” he added.

The Angrois accident in 2013, which killed 79 people, is Spain’s deadliest rail crash in modern times.