Spanish train crash driver taken before judge for questioning as death toll increases

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Spanish train crash driver 'who knew he was going too fast' taken before judge for questioning as death toll increases to 79

• Driver Francisco Garzon, 52, has been under house arrest since crash
  
• Held on suspicion of reckless homicide but yet to be formally charged
  
• Passenger train derailed near Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday
  
• Experienced driver was travelling at more than twice 50mph speed limit
  

By MARK DUELL, ANTHONY BOND and GERARD COUZENS
PUBLISHED: 17:52 GMT, 28 July 2013 | UPDATED: 18:19 GMT, 28 July 2013
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The driver of a Spanish train that derailed at high speed went before a judge today for questioning as officials try to determine how far he was responsible for the deaths of 79 people in the accident.Francisco Garzon, 52, has been under the arrest since shortly after the accident near Santiago de Compostela on suspicion of reckless homicide, but has yet to be formally charged by a magistrate.The experienced driver was travelling at more than twice the 50mph limit permitted on a curve going into the city when the train careered off the track and smashed into a wall last Wednesday.

Appearance: Train driver Francisco Garzon is taken in a police car to a court in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Questioning: Mr Garzon, who was released from hospital on Saturday but remained in police custody, arrived at Santiago de Compostela's main courthouse at 6:15pm today in a police car with darkened windows

Getting the picture: Photographers and officers run after a police car carrying Mr Garzon to testify in court

Back in action: The first Madrid-Ferrol train service since the accident passes next to the wreckage of the previous one yesterday

Assistance: Rescue workers help Briton Mark Woodward who was injured in the train crash on Wednesday

Family: Victim Mark Woodward, who was injured in the Spanish train crash and is in a serious but stable condition in hospital, is pictured with his wife Isabella and their son Liam, five

'I want to die': Minutes after the crash Francisco Jose Garzon was photographed being helped from his train's mangled remains by a medic, blood oozing onto his blue uniform from a wound on his head

Injured: Minutes after the crash, Garzon was photographed being helped from his train's mangled remains. He is being questioned by police over his role in the crash

Mangled: Rescue workers and firefighters pick through the remains of one of the eight derailed carriages. 78 passengers died in the crash and many are seriously injured

Tragic: Ana Maria Cordoba (left), from northern Virginia, died while fellow American Myrta Fariza, from Houston, Texas, is in critical condition

Horror: Garzon was behind the controls when the Madrid to Ferrol high-speed rail link hurtled into a wall at 120mph near the city of Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday night off the tracks

Unrecognisable: A crane removes one of the carriages at the scene of a train accident

The death toll from Spain's worst train disaster in decades rose to 79 after one injured person died today. Seventy people are in hospital with injuries from the crash. Twenty two are in critical condition.
After the accident, Mr Garzon spoke with both the train system control centre and emergency dispatchers, his face covered in blood from a head wound.

Transcripts reportedly revealed Mr Garzon recognised he was going too fast. Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez said yesterday there was sufficient evidence to charge him with reckless homicide.
Mr Garzon, who was released from hospital on Saturday but remained in police custody, arrived at Santiago de Compostela's main courthouse at 6:15pm today in a police car with darkened windows.

Long wait: Relatives of victims involved in the crash wait for information about their loved ones

Support: King Juan Carlos of Spain and his wife, Queen Sofia of Spain are pictured visiting crash victims at a hospital in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Mangled: A fireman sifts through the wreckage of one of the eight derailed train carriages

Francisco Jose Garzon (left), one of the drivers on the train which crashed, is reported to have posted a picture on Facebook in March last year of a train speedometer at 125mph (right)

Rescue: A fireman carries a wounded victim from the wreckage of the train crash near Santiago de Compostela

Terrifying: A horrifying video has been released of the moment the train hurtled off the tracks near the city of Santiago de Compostela

Admission: One of the drivers told railway officials by radio that he took the bend at 190 kilometres (118 miles) per hour in an urban zone with a speed limit of 80 kph, daily El Pais reported

Clearance: Rescue workers at the accident site at the entrance of Santiago de Compostela Station

Aftermath: Rail personnel clear the area and fix the track at the site of the accident

It was not clear how long the closed-door hearing with the judge would last. Neither lawyers nor members of Mr Garzon's family could be contacted for comment. The judge will investigate the case and will also look at whether the train, the tracks or the security system that slows down the trains were at fault. The Alvia train, one of three types of high speed train services that run in Spain, received a full maintenance check on the morning of the journey, the head of state train company RENFE said. ‘As far as we know the train was in perfect condition when it set off on its journey,’ Julio Gomez-Pomar told newspaper ABC, adding that security systems in place were in good shape.

Wreckage: Part of the train is carried away following the horrific crash

Twisted: The accident is the worst train accident in 30 years and television footage showed one wagon pointing upwards into the air with one of its ends twisted and disfigured

Accident: The train jumped the tracks on a bend just before arriving in the northwestern shrine city of Santiago de Compostela

Derailed: All eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train came off the tracks near the city of Santiago de Compostela

Tragic: Emergency crews work to help those who were injured in the Spanish train crash which happened just outside Santiago de Compostela
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Re: Spanish train crash driver taken before judge for questioning as death toll incre

Belongings: Police officers collect baggage at the scene of a train crash

Relatives of the victims of a train accident reacts outside the Cersia building for more information

Harrowing: Families wait for further information during the identification of the bodies

Difficult: Friends and family waited anxiously for news of their loved ones

Public visit: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (centre), Public Works Minister Ana Pastor (right), and Galician Regional President Alberto Nunez Feijoo (second left) visit the scene of a train accident in Santiago de Compostela

Declaration: The Spanish Prime Minister declared three days official mourning throughout Spain

The Alvia trains run both on traditional tracks, where drivers must heed warning systems to reduce speed, and on high-speed tracks where a more sophisticated security system will automatically slow down trains that are going too fast. At the section of the track where the accident happened, it was up to the driver to respond to prompts to slow down. But Mr Gomez-Pomar rejected criticism that the safety system was insufficient, saying the debate ‘does not make much sense’. Santiago was meant to be celebrating the yearly festival of St James last Thursday, with thousands of Christian pilgrims arriving after walking the famous Camino de Santiago ancient pilgrimage trail.

Removal: A carriage is lifted at the scene of a train crash

Surveying the scene: The crash happened about an hour before sunset after the train emerged from a tunnel and derailed on the curve - sending cars flying off the tracks

Statement: State-owned train operator Renfe said in a statement that 218 passengers and an unspecified number of staff were on board at the time of the accident

Terrifying: A general view of the train crash. The incident happened as Catholic pilgrims converged on Santiago de Compostela to celebrate a festival honouring St James, the disciple of Jesus whose remains are said to rest in a shrine

Investigation: Emergency personnel work through the debris at the scene

Cause: An official inspects the train engine amongst the wreckage of a train crash

Ownership: The train, which belongs to the state-owned Renfe company, was not an AVE high speed train, but it was a relatively luxurious version that uses the same track as Spain's fastest expresses

People living nearby rushed to the scene with bottles of water and blankets

Carnage: People look down from the rail bridge on the aftermath of a devastating train crash in north west Spain

Injured: A woman is carried from the wreckage of the train on a stretcher as emergency service workers try to rescue survivors

Emergency: Rescue workers carry victims on stretchers away for treatment. More than 70 bodies are reported to have been removed from the wreckage

Two victims with head wounds - one with his arm in a sling - are helped by a rescue worker

A man covered in dirt and blood is stretchered away

A man comforts a victim of the crash. A man who was on the train told reporters that the train started to twist, and the carriages piled up one on top of the other

Search effort: Rescue efforts were continued throughout the night following the train crash

Emergency: Injured passengers are given treatment close to the side of the track where the train derailed

Desperate effort: Emergency crews on the scene checking for survivors of the crash

A week of concerts and other cultural events were cancelled after the train crash on the eve of the Saint's day. Today, black ribbons of mourning hung on the empty stages that had been set up. Pilgrims, many of them fresh off the trail and carrying backpacks, crammed into a standing-room-only Mass in Santiago's centuries-old cathedral where they remembered the victims of the accident. At the gates, along with flowers and candles, some people left walking sticks from their journeys and others placed shells, the symbol of St James and badge of honour for the pilgrims who complete the journey.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who visited the crash site soon after the tragedy, is due to return tomorrow to Santiago, the city where he was born, for an official funeral ceremony for the victims.
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