The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has expressed his condolences and his "absolute desolation" over the death of former minister Fátima Báñez in the Arduz (Toledo) rail accident, in which two trains collided and at least 69 people died.
In a statement to the media at the Ministry headquarters, Puente explained that he has still not been able to contact directly the husband or the sons of the former minister, although he has spoken with former vice president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, who was part of the same government as Báñez.
The head of Transport wanted to convey to Báñez's family, as well as to the rest of the victims' loved ones, all his affection and closeness. "I did not know Fátima Bañez, but she certainly inspires affection and sympathy in me. I regret it deeply," he said.
Báñez, president of the CEOE Foundation and former Minister of Employment and Social Security in PP governments, was traveling in one of the seats on the train operated by Iryo that this Wednesday was struck by a Renfe AVE. Both trains had departed from Madrid bound for Seville, the city in which the former minister was scheduled to speak at a business event of the Andalusian employers' association.