Santiago rail tragedy: “I've messed up. I want to die,” says driver
Sunday, July 28, 2013 @ 6:32 PM
RECORDINGS of telephone conversations and subsequent statements from train-driver Francisco Garzón del Amo reported him as admitting he had been travelling at 190 kilometres per hour in an 80-kilometre limit.
And his colleagues across Spain, other members of the train drivers' union say 'better safety systems' in place on the A Grandeira curve at Angrois, four kilometres south of Santiago de Compostela, 'would have stopped the tragedy from happening'.
The automated braking system was not in place on that part of the line and the driver would have needed to slow down manually, they say, although they insist that it is a near-impossible feat, reducing speed from 200 kilometres per hour on the high-speed AVE line to 80 kilometres per hour on the regional line, both parts of the same track, within a matter of seconds.
Witnesses say the driver was standing on the line just after the accident, covered in blood, and repeatedly saying, 'I'm sorry'.
He told police, “I've messed up,” and admitted that he had 'wanted to die' when he saw what had happened.
A telephone conversation showed him as saying, “I've derailed, what am I supposed to do about it, what do I do.”
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