Driver ‘had joked on Facebook about speeding’

One of the drivers of a Spanish train which derailed killing at least 80 people allegedly joked on Facebook on a previous occasion about speeding past police.

Early investigations have suggested the train was travelling at 190kmh — more than twice the speed limit — when it derailed heading into a sharp curve.

Spanish media named one of the train’s drivers as Francisco Jose Garzon Amo and reported boasts he allegedly posted on Facebook about how fast he was driving a train in 2012.

The 52-year-old, who together with a second driver survived the crash and is being treated in hospital for minor injuries, is now reportedly under investigation.

He allegedly posted a picture of a train speedometer at 200kmh. His Facebook page has now been blocked.

“What a blast it would be to go parallel with the Guardia Civil [Spanish police] and go past them triggering the radar. Haha what a fine for Renfe [the Spanish train operator] haha,” he allegedly wrote in Mar 2012.

According to reports, one of the two drivers at the helm realised what was about to happen before the crash and made a call to Renfe ahead of taking the bend, saying: “I’m going at 190kmh, I’m going to derail.”

In a second call to Renfe after the accident, he explained that he was trapped in the train’s loco.

“We are human, we are human,” he is reported to have said.

“I hope there are no dead because they would fall on my conscience.”

Mr Garzon Amo is not believed to be under arrest but is expected to give evidence to a judge with access to the train’s data recording “black box”.

Many of those on the Madrid to Ferrol service would have been pilgrims travelling to Santiago’s St James’s Day festivities.

Harrowing footage of the moment the train derailed — captured by security cameras and posted on YouTube — shows the middle carriages smash into a wall before the loco careens onto its side.

With the dead being taken to a makeshift morgue in a Santiago indoor sports arena, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, visited the crash scene and declared three days of national mourning.

“For a native of Santiago, like me, this is the saddest day,” Mr Rajoy said.

He added that judicial authorities and Spain’s Public Works Ministry had launched parallel investigations. Spanish officials said the speed limit on the section of track where the accident happened was 50mph (80kph).

Professor Roger Kemp, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “The big question is why the train was [reportedly] running at more than twice the speed limit.”

The derailment left a scene of devastation, with bodies being laid out beside the line.