Friday 2 August 2013

Was 'recklessness' to blame for Spanish train crash?


(Reuters) - Spanish police were investigating on Friday if the driver of a train that crashed in Santiago de Compostela killing dozens had been driving at reckless speed when he took a tight curve.
Spain's worst train accident in decades on Wednesday evening killed at least 78, with three bodies still unidentified and 81 people in hospital, raising questions about the experienced railwayman's actions.
The driver, Francisco Garzon, 52, was under arrest at a hospital in
Santiago, the capital of the northwestern region of Galicia. He had been due to give a statement to police but local media reported he had declined to do so.
Garzon was being investigated for criminal behavior in causing the accident and "recklessness", regional police chief Jaime Iglesias said.
A spokeswoman for Galicia's Supreme Court said Garzon had not yet been charged and evidence including from the train's "black box" data recorded was being assembled.
"We're collecting elements to be used as evidence, videos, audios and all the technical work that is being done on the train," she said.
Renfe, the Spanish state train company, said Garzon was a 30-year company veteran who had been driving for a decade. He was highly qualified and had been driving on the line where the accident took place for about a year. The train was running on time when the crash occurred.
On the morning of the tragedy, he had driven a train on the same line, which connects the coastal city of La Coruna with Madrid, and a Renfe spokesman said he knew every twist and turn of the rout

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