Excess Speed Believed Culprit in Spanish Train Derailment Jul 25th 2013, 10:18
At least 78 people died in a train derailment in northern Spain on July 24, about two miles from Santiago de Compostela in the province of Galicia, just as the world-famous Christian pilgrimage site was preparing to host its annual festival. The train bound from Madrid to Ferrol derailed on the turn, apparently because it took the turn at too high a speed.
Officials report that the train carried 218 passengers, beyond the reported fatalities another 140 passengers sustained injuries as all of the train’s cars came off the rails. The accident is considered the worst in Spain in 40 years when 77 people were killed in an Andalusian derailment. At press time at least five Americans were reported to be injured.
The BBC reports that the train’s engineer has admitted to rescue workers that he was driving at "more than double" the speed that was safe to travel on the stretch of line that where the train crashed. “The driver, according to BBC, admitted to “travelling at 190km/h in a part of the rail network where the speed limit is 80km/h.”
Renfe, operator of the train, issued a statement saying, “Renfe and all of its employees would like to express its profound sorrow to all of the friends and families of the victims.” The firm has already inaugurated its own investigation of the derailment. According to a CNN report,Renfe President Julio Gomez-Pomar said the train had just undergone a routine inspection.
The city of Santiago de Compostela, whose old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the capital of Galicia as well as the final stop on the pilgrimage known as El Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James) route, which has been followed by Christian pilgrims for centuries. The festivities surrounding the Santiago de Compostela today were cancelled.
The incident is the second major rail accident in Europe this month. On July 12, a French train killed seven people and injured dozens more after crashing into a station about 12 miles outside of Paris in Bretigny-Sur-Orge.
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