Scientist killed in rail crash was 'a light for all of us'

3 hours ago

Aimee Dexterand

Debbie Tubby

News image — María José Alonso said her niece Marta Shahbazi (left) was "the friendliest person"

María José Alonso Marta Shahbazi and María José Alonso are sitting next to each other. Marta, on the left, has shoulder length dark brown curly hair. She is wearing a white short sleeved laced T-shirt. Alonso, on the right, has short blonde hair and is wearing a black thin strap top and a silver necklace. They are both smiling. — María José Alonso said her niece Marta Shahbazi (left) was "the friendliest person"

The aunt of a University of Cambridge scientist killed in the Spanish rail disaster has paid an emotional tribute, describing her niece as "a light for all of us".

Dr Marta Shahbazi was travelling to collect a prize for scientific excellence in Andalusia on 28 October, when her train crashed into another near Urda, south of Madrid, killing 69 people.

María José Alonso told the BBC a funeral had been held in Madrid on Monday for the mother of two.

"Hundreds of friends came from all over the world... because Marta was an amazing lab mate and amazing friend," she said. "She was the friendliest person you can imagine, with lots of energy. She was a light for all of us."

Shahbazi, 41, had been announced as the winner of a Spanish Society for Developmental Biology award for her contributions to the study of early human development.

She was due to collect the award at a conference in El Rompido in Andalusia.

Alonso said her niece had originally intended to travel to the ceremony by car with her family, but decided to take the train.

"Her family was here in Madrid, and they could have gone together by car - but she said 'no, stay here'," she said.

Family handout Marta Shahbazi is standing in front of a bricked wall. She is wearing a wedding dress and a floral crown with a veil. She is looking to the left. — Dr Marta Shahbazi pictured on her wedding day

After learning about the crash, Alonso said she and the family had made their way to the station in Madrid and spent the entire day there, trying to find out what had happened.

"A friend of mine working in a hospital told me all the people in the hospital have been identified," she said.

"We thought that maybe there was a mistake, so I didn't tell my sister."

Alonso said the family was informed on Saturday that Shahbazi had been identified.

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Marta Shahbazi is smiling and sitting at a laboratory desk. She is wearing glasses and has dark curly hair and is wearing a navy and white spotted top. — Dr Marta Shahbazi, pictured in 2024, was travelling to collect a prize recognising her scientific excellence

Alonso said Shahbazi spent "most of her life in Madrid", where she studied Biology at a public university in the capital, before moving to the UK to work as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge.

Shahbazi lived in Cambridge with her husband and two children.

She was an affiliate associate professor leading a group of researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), based in the city's biomedical campus.

'Highly determined'

Alonso, a professor of Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Santiago de Compostela, said she used to rehearse conference speeches with her young niece.

"From the beginning, she was so interested in things in life," she said.

"When she was seven or eight years old, I remember her telling me, 'Auntie, rehearse with me, I want to change the slides for you, I want to listen to you'.

"So I started telling her about science because it was very important in my life, and she was highly perseverant and highly determined."

The crash in Spain happened when a state-operated Renfe high-speed train smashed into the back of a stationary train operated by the Iryo company.

It is one of the worst rail disasters in Europe's modern history and Spain's worst crash since 2013.

More than 540 people were on board the trains involved.

In a statement, the LMB paid tribute to the "inspiring, talented and passionate scientist" and described her death as a "profound shock and a huge loss".

It said Shahbazi was a "much-admired role model for a 'mother scientist', a term she used to describe herself".

Prof Bertie Gottgens, of the University of Cambridge's Stem Cell Institute, where Shahbazi was a principal investigator, said the science community was "shocked and deeply saddened" by her death.