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Scores Reported Dead as Train Derails in Spain Spanish Train Inquiry Looks at a Driver Obsessed With Speed
(about 3 hours later)
Spain’s worst rail crash in decades left at least 78 people dead and scores more injured, officials said on Thursday, as investigators tried to establish how a passenger train that many reports said was traveling at excessive speed derailed outside Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — The grainy video lasts little more than 10 seconds, but long enough to show the blazing speed of a Spanish passenger train bound for Santiago de Compostela that bounced against a curved wall and thundered off the track like a twisted toy.
The eight-car train, which left Madrid at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, was traveling to Spain’s northwestern coast when it derailed at 8:41 p.m., according to the Spanish train company, Renfe, which said its technicians were cooperating with the rescue and investigation operations. Emergency workers were still picking through mangled debris on Thursday, hours after 80 people were killed in one of Europe’s worst rail accidents in recent years. With the footage from a security camera, investigators were exploring clues, focusing on the train’s speed and a middle-aged driver who relished high velocity and boasted about breaking speed records on his Facebook page.
Ninety-five people were being treated for injuries, and 36 were in serious condition, including four children, Reuters reported, citing a regional spokeswoman. The driver, Francisco José Garzón Amo, with more than three decades of experience, is now under investigation by a judge who has ordered the collection of all recordings in connection with the crash. On the day of the wreck, he substituted for another driver at the controls just 60 miles before the crash, according to Spanish news reports.
The newspaper El País cited an unidentified investigation source in reporting that one of the drivers, who was trapped in the cab of the train after the accident, said that the train had taken the curve at more than twice the speed limit of 50 miles per hour. Mr. Garzón’s Facebook page, deleted late Thursday morning, included a photograph and exchanges that portrayed a taste for speed, and perhaps even recklessness. One photo posted in March 2012 showed a speedometer needle stuck at 200 kilometers per hour (124 miles per hour) and his giddy remark: “I’m at the limit and I can’t go any faster or they will give me a fine.”
“I hope no one died because it will weigh on my conscience,” he was quoted as saying. After one of his friend’s made a joking reference to speeding, Mr. Garzón replied, in capital letters: “Imagine what a rush it would be traveling alongside the Civil Guard, and passing them so that their speed traps go off. Hehe, that would be quite a fine for Renfe, hehe,” referring to the Spanish rail operator.
On Thursday, Spanish news media reported that the driver had said the train’s speed had been 190 kilometers per hour, more than double the limit in the stretch where the train derailed.
Most high-speed lines that are part of the European Rail Traffic system are covered by a sophisticated GPS-based surveillance system that constantly monitors trains’ speed and that automatically brakes them at speed limits.
Slower trains and trains crossing urban areas in Spain and other European countries use a less intrusive system that warns the driver with sound and lights at excessive speeds, but does not automatically brake the train, according to María Carmen Palao, a spokeswoman with Spain’s ADIF rail infrastructure company.
The accident, she said, took place roughly two to three miles outside the station at Santiago de Compostela, in the “transition zone” between the two systems. The wreck occurred on the Galicia line, run by the rail operator Renfe and opened in 2011.
The train’s driver survived the accident with light injuries and is under police guard, though he has not been formally arrested. He is “lucid and able to speak,” according to Carmen Prieto, a spokeswoman for the Spanish Development Ministry.
The train was almost full, carrying 218 passengers and merrymakers who were returning to the region for a special holiday on July 25. It is the feast day for St. James the Apostle, the patron saint of Spain who for centuries has inspired pilgrims to walk El Camino de Santiago or the Way of St. James. The pilgrimage has had a burst of popularity in recent years, drawing walkers from around the world.
After the crash, the city of Santiago de Compostela canceled its extensive celebration and the authorities urged people to donate blood for the victims.
And thousands of people made another sort of pilgrimage to the site of the disaster. Walking down and up in a small rural path next to the station, they watched as rescuers used cranes and trucks to hoist the engines of the wrecked train. All — children, teens and older people — stood in funeral-like silence.
Nearby, in a building where an information center had been set up, police officers kept the victims’ families from the public eye. Some walked around the building in tears, hugging and comforting each other.
Outpourings of sympathy came from all corners, including the White House. “On behalf of the American people, we offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families and loved ones of the more than 80 people who lost their lives,” President Obama said in a statement. The injured included at least six Americans.
In a letter to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said he was “deeply saddened” by the accident. “Such a serious accident, with so many people dead and injured, is a tragedy for Spain and provokes such deep emotions,” he said.
Mr. Rajoy, who was born in the region, visited the scene of the accident and declared three days of mourning. King Juan Carlos and his wife, Sofía, also rushed to Santiago de Compostela.
“In the face of a tragedy such as just happened in Santiago de Compostela on the eve of its big day, I can only express my deepest sympathy as a Spaniard and a Galician,” Mr. Rajoy said in a written statement. He later declared three days of official mourning.
The eight-car train, which left Madrid at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, was traveling to Spain’s coast when it derailed at 8:41 p.m., according to Renfe, the train company, which said its technicians were cooperating with the rescue and investigation operations.
On Thursday, cranes were used to lift the wreckage off the tracks as rescue workers tried to ensure that all the passengers had been accounted for.On Thursday, cranes were used to lift the wreckage off the tracks as rescue workers tried to ensure that all the passengers had been accounted for.
Shocked witnesses described the scale of the destruction as the dead were taken to a temporary morgue.Shocked witnesses described the scale of the destruction as the dead were taken to a temporary morgue.
“The road is full of cadavers,” a radio reporter, Xaime López, said on the station Cadena Ser. “It’s striking: you almost can’t even count them.”“The road is full of cadavers,” a radio reporter, Xaime López, said on the station Cadena Ser. “It’s striking: you almost can’t even count them.”
The accident was Spain’s worst train crash since 1972, when 86 people were killed in the southwest of the country. In recent years, Spain has invested heavily in its rail system creating a modern network. The accident was Spain’s worst train crash since 1972, when 86 people were killed in the southwest of the country. In recent years, Spain has invested heavily in its rail system, creating a modern network.
Messages of condolence arrived from several capitals and, in a letter to Mr. Rajoy, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said he was “deeply saddened” by the accident. “Such a serious accident, with so many people dead and injured, is a tragedy for Spain and provokes such deep emotions,” he said

Silvia Taulés reported from Santiago de Compostela, and Doreen Carvajal from Paris. Stephen Castle contributed reporting from London, and Caroline Brothers from Paris.

Frances Robles, Richard Berry and Elias E. Lopez contributed reporting.