The general secretary of the World Council of Churches has expressed his condolences after at least 78 people died and 140 who were injured in a train crash near Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
The train derailed at 8.42am on 24th July with a number of carriages coming off the tracks in what was the deadliest train crash in the country since 1972.
In a letter to the Roman Catholic archdiocese, Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit voiced the WCC”s “solidarity with the families of the victims, with those injured and with the whole Spanish people in your suffering.”
“(W)e mourn together with their families, friends and with all pilgrims who had been making their way to Santiago,” he said. “While praying and mourning in the aftermath of this catastrophe, we call upon all those responsible for the security of public transport in Europe and beyond to strengthen their efforts in order to avoid such disastrous events in the future.”
