Francisco Jose Garzon, the train driver of the big train crash in northeast Spain last week, was charged Sunday with 79 counts of homicide by professional recklessness and a yet to be determined number of counts by causing injury by professional recklessness, CNN reported
A court had granted Garzon conditional release but his license to operate a train has been suspended for six months. Garzon also surrendered his passport, and must report to court weekly, news reports also said.
His speed when as he crossed a bend is what is most in questioned when the crash occurred in Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday evening. Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez said that there are "rational indications" the crash was the fault of the driver. Police also have the data recorders from the train.
In addition to the 79 deaths reported killed from the crash, about 70 people injured in the crash remained hospitalized on Sunday, including 22 in serious condition, a representative for the regional health department said. At least 75 bodies have been identified, but it is unclear whether the body parts belong to those accounted for or those yet to be identified, CNN reported.
In addition t o the 63 dead are from Spain, two Americans have been identified as the deceased. Myrta Fariza who died, was on her way to a Catholic festival with her husband, who survived.
"Myrta was our loving wife, mother, sister, mother-in-law, aunt and friend, and words cannot express our sense of loss," her family said in a statement. "To all who knew her, Myrta provided irreplaceable love, compassion, courage, friendship and support. We will miss her dearly." The other American who died was Ana-Maria Cordoba from Arlington Virginia.
News reports said Garzon was traveling at approximately 120 mph at the time of the crash, the Spanish news agency Efe and the national paper, El Pais reported, according to the investigation.
Rafael Catala, secretary of state for transport and housing, told Spanish radio network Cadena SER that the "tragedy appears to be linked to the train going too fast" -- but that the reasons it was going so fast are not yet known.
