The driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo pictured moments after the derailment on Thursday July 26, and a photo of the speedometer allegedly from his Facebook before his account was deactivated Thursday morning. (AP/Facebook)
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain – The driver of the train that crashed in Spain, killing 78, was officially detained in the hospital as a suspect, Spanish police said Friday, as reports surfaced that he once boasted about his speed on Facebook.
The train traveled in northwestern Spain when it crashed Thursday. Authorities lowered the death toll from 80 to 78 and took possession of the "black box" of the train expected to shed light on why it was going faster than the speed limit on the curve where it derailed.
The driver, Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, was officially detained while he recovers from his injuries, said Jaime Iglesias, the National Police chief of the Galicia region where the crash happened just on the outskirts of the regional capital, Santiago de Compostela.
After the train derailed, Garzon Amo called emergency services on his phone, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. He said, "I should have gone 80 [about 50 miles per hour] and I'm going 190 [118 miles per hour]." He was referring to the speed of the train reportedly traveling more than twice the speed limit when it derailed.
Photos: Horrific Spain Derailment
Garzon Amo's Facebook page was deactivated Thursday morning but not before Spanish newspapers found an old Facebook photo he published on March 8, 2012 allegedly showing a train speedometer that showed him traveling at 124 miles per hour (or 200 kilometers per hour). According to the paper El Pais, Garzon Amo boasted that he was traveling as fast as he could go on the train. A photo, pictured above, shows the alleged image posted on Facebook.
"I'm at the limit. I can't go faster or else they'll fine me," he joked, according to El Pais, "What a joy it would be to travel parallel with the Civil Guard (police) and pass by them while blowing up their radar. What a major fine."
In an interview with The Associated Press, an American passenger injured on the train said he saw on a TV monitor screen inside his car that the train was traveling 121 mph (194 kph) seconds before the crash — far above the 50 mph (80 kph) speed limit on the curve where it derailed.
Iglesias said that Garzon Amo would be questioned "as a suspect for a crime linked to the cause of the accident."
The driver, under guard by police, cannot yet testify because of his medical condition, Iglesias said, adding that he did not have details of the medical condition but that it could delay efforts by police to question him.
The revised death toll from 80 to 78 came as forensic scientists matched body parts with each other at a makeshift morgue set up in a sports arena in Santiago de Compostela, said Antonio de Amo, the police chief in charge of the scientific service for Spain's National Police.
De Amo said police are still working to identify what they believe are the remains of six people, and that the count could change as they continue their work associating body parts with each other.
An American victim was identified by the Diocese of Arlington as Ana Maria Cordoba, an administrative employee from northern Virginia. Also among the dead were an Algerian and a Mexican, Spanish police said Friday.
Investigators, meanwhile, have taken possession of the "black box" of the train, which hurtled at high-speed along a curve and derailed, and will hand it over to the investigating judge, Iglesias said, adding that the box had not been opened yet.
The box records train's trip data, including speed and distances and braking and are similar to flight recorders for airplanes.
Court spokeswoman Maria Pardo Rios said analysis will be performed on the device but she declined comment on how long the analysis will take.
Stephen Ward, 18-year-old Mormon missionary from Utah, said he was writing in his journal when he looked up at the monitor and saw the train's speed. Then, he said, "the train lifted up off the track. It was like a roller coaster."
Seconds later, Ward remembered, a backpack fell from the rack above him and he felt the train fly off the track. That was his last memory before he blacked out on impact.
When Ward woke up, someone was helping him walk out of his train car and crawl out of a ditch where the car had toppled over. He thought he was dreaming for 30 seconds until he felt his blood-drenched face and noticed the scene around him.
"Everyone was covered in blood. There was smoke coming up off the train," he said. "There was a lot of crying, a lot of screaming. There were plenty of dead bodies. It was quite gruesome."
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.
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