2 min readSantiago De CompostelaJul 27, 2013 01:13 AM IST
First published on: Jul 27, 2013 at 01:13 AM IST
The train driver did little to hide his taste for speed. He posted a photograph of a locomotive speedometer needle stuck at 200 kilometers per hour,or about 125 miles m.p.h.,on Facebook last year,boasting that the reading has not been tampered with and openly relishing the idea of racing past the authorities.
The train driver,Francisco José Garzón Amo,a veteran with three decades of experience,has been arrested and investigators Friday were examining records from the trains black box to determine how it smashed into a curved wall and careered off the track,killing 78 people and leaving dozens injured.
On Friday,Jaime Iglesias,a national police force commander in Galicia,said the authorities had the black box data from the train,bound for Santiago de Compostela.
Iglesias said the death toll had been revised down to 78 from 80 after the identification of bodies. Those killed include an American,an Algerian and a Mexican,he said.
The trains driver survived the accident with slight injuries and was under police guard. He is lucid and able to speak, said Carmen Prieto,a spokeswoman for the Spanish Development Ministry.
Spanish newspaper El País reported that people at the train company said alcohol had not been found in the drivers system.
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