Jul
30
Driver on phone at time of Spanish train crash
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Deadly derailment in Spain
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Rescue workers pull victims from a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. REUTERS/Oscar Corral
Rescue workers are seen amongst the wreckage of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, early July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
Rescue workers sift through debris and sort out luggage the morning after a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
A crane removes a carriage from the tracks at the site of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
A crane removes a carriage from the tracks at the site of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
A crane removes a carriage from the tracks at the site of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
Rescue workers are seen amongst the wreckage of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, early July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
A crane removes a carriage from the tracks at the site of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
Rescue workers sift through debris and sort out luggage amongst wreckage the morning after a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, early July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
An official inspects the train engine amongst the wreckage of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, early July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
Rescue workers and officials are seen amongst the wreckage of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, early July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
Firefighters watch as a crane removes a carriage from the tracks at the site of a train crash near near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Miguel Vidal)
A Spanish National Police officer checks the personal belongings of a victim amongst the wreckage of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, early July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
Rescue workers stand amongst the wreckage of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
Rescue workers help a victim of a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. At least 56 people died after a train derailed in the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, the head of Spain’s Galicia region, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, told Television de Galicia. (REUTERS/Xoan A. Soler/Monica Ferreiros/La Voz de Galicia)
Rescue workers carry victims on stretchers after a train crashed near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. At least 56 people died after a train derailed in the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, the head of Spain’s Galicia region, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, told Television de Galicia. (REUTERS/Xoan A. Soler/Monica Ferreiros/La Voz de Galicia)
Victims are helped by rescue workers after a train crashed near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. At least 56 people died after a train derailed in the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, the head of Spain’s Galicia region, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, told Television de Galicia. (REUTERS/Xoan A. Soler/Monica Ferreiros/La Voz de Galicia)
Victims receive help after a train crashed near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. At least 56 people died after a train derailed in the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, the head of Spain’s Galicia region, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, told Television de Galicia. (REUTERS/Xoan A. Soler/Monica Ferreiros/La Voz de Galicia)
Rescue workers pull victims from a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. REUTERS/Oscar Corral
Rescue workers pull victims from a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. REUTERS/Oscar Corral
Rescue workers pull victims from a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. REUTERS/Oscar Corral
Rescue workers pull victims from a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. REUTERS/Oscar Corral
An injured passenger is helped by a policeman after a train crashed near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013. REUTERS/Oscar Corral
MADRID – The driver of the train that derailed in northwestern Spain last week, killing 79 people, was talking on the phone with state train operator Renfe at the time of the accident, a court said on Tuesday after analyzing the train’s data recording devices.
The initial reading of the so-called black boxes said driver Francisco Garzon received a call from Renfe minutes before the accident to discuss the path to Ferrol, the final destination for the high-speed train that departed from Madrid on Wednesday with 218 passengers aboard.
The court investigating the case said that by the conversation and background noise picked up on the black boxes, the driver appeared to be consulting a map or some kind of paper document while on the phone with Renfe staff.
The train was travelling at 192 km (120 miles) per hour in the minutes before it derailed in a curve where speed is limited at 80 km per hour, according to the two black boxes, which are actually orange in colour and located at the front and the back of the train.
The eight-carriage train slowed to 153 km per hour at the time of the crash after a brake was activated seconds before.
Garzon, 52, admitted in a closed-door hearing to taking the curve too fast, blaming it on a momentary lapse, according to media reports.
He has been charged with negligent homicide by Investigating Magistrate Luis Alaez, who is also probing whether the train, the tracks or the security system that slow down the trains may also have been at fault.
Sixty-six people remained in hospital from the crash on Tuesday, with 15 in critical condition.
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