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The Spanish government said on Tuesday it would award €20 million in compensation to the victims of last week’s high-speed train crash in southern Spain, which killed 45 people and injured at least 150.
The disaster on January 18 saw a train derail and collide with another train in Adamuz, a city near Cordoba. It was the deadliest train crash in Spain since 2013, and one of the worst in Europe in recent history.
The families of the deceased will receive €216,000 each within three months, according to Transport Minister Oscar Puente.
The compensation package includes €72,000 in tax-exempt government aid and a €72,000 advance insurance payment, as well as a further €72,000 from passengers’ mandatory travel insurance.
For those injured in the crash, payments will range from €2,400 to €84,000 depending on the severity of the injuries, according to Puente.
“We know that ordinary procedures and legal timelines do not always respond to the vital urgency of a tragedy like this,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“Economic uncertainty cannot be compounded on top of the emotional pain.”
Transport minister under pressure
Puente has come under increasing public scrutiny following the Adamuz crash, compounded by a string of other railway incidents that same week. A train driver died after a crash in Catalonia, while there were two other accidents without fatalities.
The main opposition People’s Party has called for the transport minister’s resignation, while Spanish media report that he is under preliminary investigation for a possible criminal offence linked to the accident.
Puente told reporters on Tuesday that he had a “clear conscience” and was doing “my job as best I can”.
“I am acting according to my conscience, my sense of duty, and I will take the decisions I have to take,” he said, adding that he would demonstrate “with deeds, not words” the government’s commitment to the crash victims.
Explanations about what caused the Adamuz crash have been scant so far, with an official investigation underway, but some details have started to emerge.
Spain’s rail accident investigating body CIAF said that a fracture in the rail appeared to have been present before the derailment. What caused the apparent fracture isn’t known, investigators said, not ruling out any possibilities.
Álvaro Fernández, the president of national railway company Renfe, has said that “human error could be ruled out”.
Spain has spent decades investing heavily in high-speed trains. It currently has the largest rail network in Europe for high-speed trains, with more than 3,900km of track, says the International Union of Railways. Crashes causing injury or death are uncommon.