Spain's king and queen attend memorial service for rail crash victims

Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia attended a memorial service at Toledo's cathedral on Monday for the 69 people killed in a high-speed train collision near the town of Urda on the Madrid-Seville line, about 40 miles from Toledo, the BBC reported. The accident occurred when a train travelling at high speed ploughed into the back of a stationary train, marking the worst rail tragedy in Spain since 2013. Twenty-eight people remain in hospital, according to the BBC.

Archbishop Cerro Chaves told those present that "the tragic accident in Urda has left our families, our towns and our society with a pain that is difficult to accept," the BBC reported. Representatives of the victims carried lit candles to the front of the cathedral and placed them next to the main altar. The first reading was delivered by Ana Benítez, sister of David Benítez, a 38-year-old father of two who died in the crash.

The king and queen were met with applause by bystanders as they entered the cathedral and spoke to relatives of the victims after the Catholic Mass, the BBC said. Senior politicians also attended, including opposition People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Castilla-La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page, and Transport and Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo. Cuerpo assumed the transport portfolio last week following the resignation of Óscar Puente, who had come under mounting pressure after the crash.

The Urda collision was Spain's second major rail tragedy this year, after 46 people died in a crash on the same high-speed line near Adamuz in Andalusia in January, the BBC noted. Some residents from Adamuz and Urda were present at the memorial. The investigation into the recent accident is still in progress; Puente had suggested that human error combined with a glitch in the safety system may have been the cause.

The ceremony took place on the same day as a nationwide strike by train drivers demanding greater safety on the rail network, the BBC reported. Rail services were also expected to be affected across the country on Wednesday due to a general strike led by housing activists calling for urgent measures to control rental costs. The tragedy occurred a month before the 29 November general election and is seen as likely to hurt Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's re-election bid, according to the BBC.