Driver questioned over Spanish rail crash
One of the drivers involved in the Spanish rail crash is under investigation after suggestions the train was travelling at more than twice the speed limit.
Francisco Jose Garzon de Amo, 52, a train driver with 30 years experience, is to be questioned by police in the hospital, the Galicia Supreme Court said in a statement after the accident, which killed 78 people and injured more than 130.
Early investigations suggest the train was traveling at about 100 mph, more than double the speed limit, on a dangerous curve approaching the city of Santiago de Compostela in north western Spain.
All eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train derailed on Wednesday evening, see previous story.
The service, from Madrid, was reportedly running late at the time.
Spain’s national train operator Renfe said it is too early to say what caused the train to derail.
Spanish media published excerpts from Garzon’s Facebook page, reports the Daily Telegraph, in which he is alleged to have said: "It would be amazing to go alongside police and overtake them and trigger off the speed camera."
The comments were posted beneath a photograph of a train’s speedometer clocking 200 km/h.
The Galicia crash was one of the worst rail accidents in Europe in 25 years, and comes less than a fortnight after six people died when a train came off the tracks and hit the platform at a station in central France.
By Diane Evans, TravelMole UK
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