Did Spanish Train Crash Driver Make Speed Boast on Facebook?

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By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2013-07-25 23:19:01 UTC

On Wednesday, at 8.41 p.m. local time, a train derailed and crashed near the northwestern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, leaving 80 people dead and 31 critically injured.

Months before the tragic crash, the driver of the train, Francisco Jose Garzón Amo, 52, allegedly boasted of traveling at high speeds on his Facebook page, according to multiple media sources who saw his account, which is now deleted.

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The train, which was coming from the capital Madrid, derailed at 180 kilometers per hour (111 mph) in a sector where the speed limit is just 80 (50 mph), according to Spanish leading newspaper El Pais . It was going so fast that one car flew 50 feet away from the tracks. A video taken from a railway security camera, and embedded above, shows the moment of the fatal crash. (Warning: the images might be disturbing for some viewers.)

According to another publication, El Mundo, on March 2012, Garzón also posted a picture of a speedometer at 200 kph (124 mph.) You can see a zoomed in screenshots in this video.

After one of his friend wrote: "Whoa you are going so fast, braaaaaaake," Garzón replied that "If I went any faster, they’d fine me," before adding that "the speedometer isn't manipulated."

His friend made a reference to speeding and how he'd lose the points on his driver's license, to which Garzón responded in all caps: "How fun it would be to drive side-by-side the police and then pass them by, triggering the speed radar. Haha, bit of a fine for [train operator] Renfe, ha ha," according to the report.

Garzón, who had 30 years of experience, is now under investigation. He had started operating the train just 60 miles before the crash, and tests performed after the crash reported that he wasn't under the influence of alcohol, as reported by El Pais .

Image: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

Topics: Spain, trains, US & World, World