A University of Cambridge scientist has been identified as one of the victims of the devastating train crash in Spain earlier this week.
Dr Marta Shahbazi, 41, was among 69 people killed on Wednesday when a train travelling from Madrid to Seville struck a stationary train on the same route near Toledo.
The “apocalyptic” collision, which left more than 100 people injured, is being investigated. Early findings indicate that up to four separate system failures may have contributed to the crash, which witnesses described as resembling the aftermath of a bomb blast.
Dr Shahbazi, who had children aged three and seven, was initially reported missing. She had been travelling to south-west Spain to collect an award recognising her pioneering research into IVF and early embryo development when the trains collided.
A Spanish research institute later confirmed the death of the “inspiring, talented and passionate” scientist in an online statement. The institute also expressed its condolences to Shahbazi’s aunt, who is herself a scientist.
Remembered as a “brilliant young researcher”, Shahbazi was an Affiliate Associate Professor at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. She lived in Cambridge with her husband, Mirco Petruzzelli, and their children.
Her brother Carlos told The Times: “She lived for science and her kids. That was her whole life.” Colleagues have described her death as “a profound shock and a huge loss”.
The Centre for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases wrote: “The CiMUS community would like to express its support and deepest sympathies to our dear PI María José Alonso, following the death of her niece, Marta Shahbazi, in the railway accident that occurred on 28 October.”
Dr Marta Shahbazi, a University of Cambridge scientist, has been confirmed among those killed in the devastating train crash in Spain earlier this week
Sixty-nine people were killed and more than 100 injured when two trains collided in Spain on Wednesday
Rail operator Adif said the crash happened between the towns of Mora and Orgaz
“Marta was a brilliant young researcher, Group Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Affiliate Associate Professor at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge.
“At this difficult time, we extend our heartfelt condolences to María José and her family, as well as to Marta Shahbazi’s colleagues and collaborators. Our thoughts are with them all, and we wish them strength and comfort as they come to terms with this profound loss.”
The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where Dr Shahbazi led a research group, had previously said she was missing after the crash.
The laboratory has since announced: “The LMB is deeply saddened by the tragic death of our colleague Marta Shahbazi, Group Leader in the Cell Biology Division.
“Marta was on a train that collided with another near Urda, Spain, on Wednesday 28th October, as she was travelling to receive the scientific excellence prize from the Spanish Society of Developmental Biology.
“Marta was an inspiring, talented and passionate scientist. Her death is a profound shock and a huge loss. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and colleagues at this extremely difficult time. The LMB is offering support to members of its community as they navigate this tragic loss.”
The Daily Mail has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
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The crash is being treated as one of Spain’s worst transport disasters. The country observed three days of national mourning after the tragedy.
All trains along a 63-kilometre (39-mile) stretch had been stopped after a computer malfunction. However, central command instructed a Renfe train to resume its journey without imposing any speed restrictions.
A little more than 20 minutes later at 8.53am, it smashed into the back of the stationary Iryo train 100 miles south of Madrid, leaving carriages totally destroyed and derailed. It was reported that the locomotive was capable of travelling at speeds of 185mph.
The first incident report released after the crash has suggested that there were a number of technical problems with the railway infrastructure that day.
There had been a failure in the security system which stops trains from colliding, leaving staff to enforce safety controls manually, like temporary speed limits.
Faults in communication systems and electrical disturbances on the track bed are also said to be to blame, although authorities are still unsure over what caused the outages.
Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente said that a controller told a stalled train to restart and continue travelling up to 160km/h (99mph), despite the stationary train being up ahead.
He said the control centre ‘had more than enough time to verify the error, and they did not fix it’.
He added: ‘The decision to resume traffic, while that system had not been restored, belongs to the control centre.’
The collision has caused a political crisis for Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is heading towards an election in a month, with many critics blasting his administration for under-investing in its railway infrastructure.
They have highlighted that the crash came less than a year after 46 people died in January when a train jumped the track and hit an incoming one in southern Spain.
Up to 27 nationalities are believed to have been among those injured or killed in Wednesday’s crash.
One survivor, Sebastian Herrero, 46, who was travelling on the Iryo train, said he was ‘thrown against the seats’ when the trains collided, and described how he was ‘in the air for about four or five seconds’, which felt like ‘a lifetime’.
He described the crash as ‘a twisted mass of metal’ while another survivor, Jesus, said he ‘saw a boy with an amputated arm walking away from the wreckage’.
Architect Joaquín Torres described the death of a horrifically injured fellow passenger.
He said: ‘I went up to a woman who said she was cold… she died in my arms. It was horrible, [she was] without legs, without arms.’
One carriage caught fire and smoke was still pouring from the mangled wreckage as emergency responders reached the scene.
Fatima Banez, Spain’s former employment minister, has also been confirmed among the dead, as well as 24-year-old athlete Julieta Gallego.