Spain train crash: Driver was on phone; train was at double speed.
The Spanish driver in a recent train accident in Spain that killed 79 people was on the phone and running the vehicle at 95 mph speed, almost twice the speed limit, reveals two “black box” data recorders.
Spanish court investigating the train accident said in a statement on Tuesday that at the time of accident the train was running at a speed of 119 mph and the driver activated the brakes just couple of seconds before the crash.
According to Spanish rail agency the brakes should have been activated 2.5 miles away from the curve track.
Investigation is ongoing and the recovered “black boxes” are being examined by the forensic police experts, Ministry of Transport and Santiago de Compostela court.
The speed limit was assigned just 50 mph on the section of track where the train crashed.
The statement further adds driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo was on a phone call with Renfe, an official of national rail company, consulting a paper document at the time of the crash.
Meanwhile, the driver has been charged with multiple counts of negligent homicide.
The accident took place last Wednesday evening. It was carrying 218 passengers when slammed into a concrete wall. Few cars of the train also caught fire.