Government awards Pipas Facundo the Medal for Civic Merit for its work in the Villada accident
17/08/2007

Source: El Norte de Castilla

The company awaits the date of the award ceremony to organise a joint celebration with the Town Council.

Following the proposal of the Ministry of Development, the Central Government has decided to award the company Pipas Facundo the Medal for Civic Merit, with the distinction of a Plaque of Honour, in recognition of the humanitarian work which employees of the factory, located in the town of Villada, carried out for those injured in the tragic train accident there on 21st August last year. Seven passengers died in the accident, and more than a hundred were injured in various ways.

“After the sad, painful experience of all of us that day, the Government wants to acknowledge the exemplary behaviour of members of the company, who dropped everything and heroically rushed to the aid of the victims. This proved quite infectious behaviour,” said the Vicente Villagrá, Managing Director of Pipas Facundo and Head of the Chamber of Commerce of Palencia, yesterday. He now awaits the date on which the medal will be awarded.

“We have known for some time now that they wanted to do this, but we received notification last month. The date when it will be awarded has not yet been confirmed, but the important thing is the acknowledgement. I don't know how it will be done, I expect it will be a joint celebration between the village and the factory,” continued Villagrá, who made no secret of his pride in the acknowledgement received almost exclusively by his employees. “I'm very happy to be a member of a company worthy of such recognition, but the credit belongs especially to our employees, who took such an active role,” stressed Villagrá.

Pipas Facundo, which has been carrying out its industrial activities in Villada for sixty years, halted production on that day, and housed the field hospital that tended to the victims of the train derailment, which caused seven deaths in the town.

Installing the field hospital in the factory, just a few metres from the site of the accident, avoided those injured having to endure the high early-afternoon temperatures, and made it possible to keep casualties under cover as they received first aid.

The sixty Facundo employees – half the workforce was on leave – taken by surprise by the train derailment in the middle of the working day, at 3.52 pm, on the premises adjacent to Villada station, went immediately to the site of the derailed train, close to the town railway station.