Spain train crash: Driver was warned 3 times

Madrid, Aug 4: The driver of the ill-fated train which crashed in Santiago de Compostela in Spain last week, received three warnings before the crash, the black box examination has revealed. Eighty passengers were killed in the accident.

According to investigation, it has emerged that the ticket inspector Antonio Martin had rung driver Francisco Garzon to discuss what platform the train would use at a station further down the line.

On Friday, the details from the black box released showed that Garzon took the call at 20:39 local time when the train was going at 199 km per hour.

The call lasted less than two minutes and ended 11 seconds before the train got derailed.

The driver applied brakes "too late" at 20:40 when the train was doing 195 km per hour.

He was alerted 3 times by warning signals sounded at 20:39, 20:40 and 20:41 hours, but it was not clear from the black box transcripts released by the court whether they were to reduce speed.

52-year-old Garzon, last week confessed that he was driving the train "double the speed limit".

He has been charged with at least 79 counts of negligent homicide but has been released without bail pending trial.

OneIndia News

(With Agency inputs)