We offer our prayers during these 3 days of mourning, for the victims of the train crash in Spain which happened on Wednesday October 28. Spain's second high-speed rail disaster this year, a crash in which one train struck another from behind, killing 68 people, has raised fresh concerns about the safety of the country's rail network. Close to 100 were injured and taken to nearby hospitals, mostly to Toledo, the nearest big city. Spain's network of high-speed rail has been considered one of the nation's crowning achievements. It ranks second to China in track mileage in the world. Until this year, it had not endured a deadly crash since coming into service over three decades ago. The collision Wednesday turned a sleepy stretch of rail lined by olive groves into a scene of carnage. Only in January, 46 people had died when one train jumped the track and slammed into the side of another going the opposite way in southern Spain. The Spanish rail system carried 45 million travellers last year, including millions of tourists. The crash was caused by what is called the "inexplicable" order from a central command centre for Spain's trains after a security system had failed. A security system on a stretch of 63 kilometres (39 miles) stopped working due to a computer malfunction, causing all trains on that stretch to stop. But the train should never have been told to start moving again since there was still a "stop signal" active on that line. And if it had, at least it should have been told to go at reduced speed. A computer glitch followed by a human error. And 68 people are dead. Let us remember the victims and their families, and more safety in our travels.
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