A train that derailed in Santiage De Compostela Spain, in the northwest region of the country, smashed into a security wall as it rounded a bend was going faster than was required on Wednesday, which caused 80 deaths and scores more injured, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
A U.S. State Department official confirmed to CBS News on Thursday that one U.S. citizen was killed and five others were injured.
The train reportedly was going twice the speed it should have been going. It was traveling at about 100 mph, news reports said. The government of Spain have launched two probes into the big accident.
The train driver, who has been hospitalized with unspecified injuries, had been questioned as a possible suspect, but faults in safety equipment were also being investigated, news reports said.
94 people remained hospitalized in six regional hospitals, the Galician government said. 31 of the 94 remain in critical condition.
"For a native of Santiago like me, this is the saddest day," Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said. He toured the crash scene with rescue workers. He also went to a nearby hospital to visit with the wounded.
The train company Renfe said 218 passengers and five crew members were on board.
"I saw the train coming out of the bend at great speed and then there was a big noise," one eyewitness who lives beside the train line, Consuelo Domingues, told The Associated Press.
"Then everybody tried to get out of the train," he added.
Santiago officials were preparing for the city's Catholic festival. It was cancelled and the city's main indoor sports arena became used as a makeshift morgue for victims' families.
It was Spain's deadliest train accident since 1972, when a train collided with a bus in southwest Spain, killing 86 people and injuring 112, the AP reported.
"July 24 will no longer be the eve of a day of celebration but rather one commemorating one of the saddest days in the history of Galicia," said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, regional president of Galicia. Santiago de Compostela is its capital.
