Spanish Train Crash

[Troy]

The driver of a train that derailed on Wednesday killing 78 people has been formally detained, Spanish police say.

The driver, who was injured and is under guard in hospital, is accused of "crimes related to the accident", they say.

There are reports that the train was travelling at more than double the speed limit at the time of the crash.

Spain has declared three days of national mourning over the crash, one of its worst-ever rail disasters.

The police chief in the Galicia region, Jaime Iglesias, said on Friday that driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo would be questioned "as a suspect for a crime linked to the cause of the accident".

He added that Mr Garzon could not yet testify because of his medical condition.

BBC reporter Tim Willcox: "This is Spain's worst rail disaster in a generation."

Police also put the confirmed number of deaths at 78 - down from 80 announced earlier.

They said the difference arose because human remains had been wrongly identified in the initial stages.

At least 130 people were taken to hospital after the accident near the north-western city of Santiago de Compostela, and 95 are still being treated.

The 32 seriously injured include children. People from several nationalities are among the wounded, including five Americans and one Briton. One American was among the dead.

[YOUTUBE]wVwjpEyybI0[/YOUTUBE]

Horrible incident and seemingly all because the driver was going at twice the speed limit. All ten vehicles of the train derailed and four over turned so it is no wonder that there were so many fatalities. I would have thought that in this modern age there would be a system in place that would limit the train's speed at certain portions of track to prevent something like this happening. That footage is startling.​

 

[Chris]

Been avoiding the video, crazy stuff. Pretty much agree with you that you'd think something like this wouldn't happen in this day and age.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

Kinda trips ya out from going on a train ride again.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

With too many morons on this planet at the moment, we are gonna still constantly get stupid shit like this. It's unavoidable at this point, we just gotta watch out.

 

[Deezy]

Spain, Trains, and Human remains?

Terrible and avoidable tragedy, the worst kind. Did that driver leave his oven on at home? Why so speedy? Train rails are not meant to carry that kind of speed, especially at turns the video clearly shows that. That guy should be prosecuted for being a blueberry.

 

[Troy]

That is why I thought that there would be safety measures in place that limit the trains speed and doesn't allow a train driver to override it. Surely with all the technology we have these days they can come up with a system which prevents something like this where a driver is going a twice the speed limit into a corner.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

Human error/stupidity continues to hold us back as a species. If survival of the fittest rather than protect the Blue was still in effect he would have from something years ago instead of killing near on 80 people. Like that Italian boat runnign aground last year, captains stupidity killed alot of people.

 

[Mick Donalds]

Well we now know two things about Spain.

They can't fight a war, and certainly can't drive trains, either.

 

[Nate]

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Really hoping this is false, but if not than this this case just turned sad and pathetic. RIP to the victims and their families involved!