The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, has assured that the Government of Spain will intervene and work with "rigor, transparency and determination" to know "the truth of what has happened" in the railway accident in Urda (Toledo). She has emphasized that the central Executive has "the obligation to be there, act and give answers", in addition to standing "by the side of the families" of the victims and activating "all the necessary resources".
Morant spoke in these terms this Monday, during the swearing-in ceremony of the new Government delegate in the Comunitat Valenciana, Roger Llanes. In her speech she recalled that, although the three days of official mourning have ended, "it is still hard for us to smile" after the death of 69 people last Wednesday in this railway disaster. "We will never forget them," she stated.
The minister conveyed the "praise and commitment" of the Government of Spain to the families of the victims and to the survivors, and reiterated that the central Executive "is and will be by their side, accompanying them and helping them". "This is our priority today," she emphasized, before underlining that "when a tragedy like this occurs, institutions cannot look the other way".
In this vein, she insisted that "we cannot be spectators of pain, we have the obligation to be there, to act and to give answers, to stand by the victims and their families, to put all the necessary resources at their disposal, to coordinate the efforts of all the administrations and to work with rigor, with transparency and determination to know the truth of what has happened".
Morant claimed that this is "the reason for the existence of public powers, the responsibility we have toward citizens, especially when the moments are the hardest". She added that "it is precisely when things go wrong, when misfortune comes, when people are suffering, when it is most important that institutions rise to the occasion", in reference to the role governments must assume in crisis situations.
To achieve this, she stressed the need for this responsibility to fall on "capable and good people, political representatives who do not limit themselves to saying what must be done, but who do it, who stand up, who tell the truth, who resolve and who face the challenges with rigor and ambition".