Spanish Train Driver Charged With Homicide

Death of 2nd American brings death toll to 79
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 29, 2013 1:07 AM CDT
Spain Train Driver Charged With Homicide
Train driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo is helped away from the crash site in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.    (AP Photo/La Voz de Galicia/Xoan Soler)

As Sunday church services were held throughout Spain in memory of the country's worst train crash in decades, the driver involved was formally charged with homicide. Francisco Jose Garzon Amo—who had previously boasted about speeding—is accused of 79 counts of homicide committed through "professional recklessness," Reuters reports. The 52-year-old was released without bail and ordered to turn in his passport. His train driving license has also been revoked.

Investigators believe the train—which was fully inspected the morning of the crash—was doing 120mph, more than double the speed limit, when it crashed at a curve. Around 70 passengers are still in the hospital and the death toll hit 79 yesterday with the death of a Houston woman who is the second American passenger to die. The 58-year-old and her husband, who was slightly injured, were visiting Spain after attending their daughter's wedding in Rome, reports the New York Daily News. (More Francisco Jose Garzon Amo stories.)

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