Did Spanish Train Crash Driver Make Speed Boast on Facebook?,written by olagideon

On Wednesday, at 8.41 p.m. local time, a
train derailed and crashed near the
northwestern Spanish city of Santiago de
Compostela, leaving 80 people dead and 31
critically injured.
Months before the tragic crash, the driver
of the train, Francisco Jose Garzón Amo, 52,
allegedly boasted of traveling at high speeds
on his Facebook page, according to multiple
media sources who saw his account, which is
now deleted.
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Across Madrid
The train, which was coming from the capital
Madrid, derailed at 180 kilometers per hour
(111 mph) in a sector where the speed limit is
just 80 (50 mph), according to Spanish
leading newspaper El Pais. It was going so
fast that one car flew 50 feet away from
the tracks. A video taken from a railway
security camera, and embedded above, shows
the moment of the fatal crash. (Warning: the
images might be disturbing for some
viewers.)
According to another publication, El Mundo,
on March 2012, Garzón also posted a picture
of a speedometer at 200 kph (124 mph.) You
can see a zoomed in screenshots in this video.
After one of his friend wrote: "Whoa you are
going so fast, braaaaaaake," Garzón replied
that "If I went any faster, they'd fine me,"
before adding that "the speedometer isn't
manipulated."
His friend made a reference to speeding and
how he'd lose the points on his driver's
license, to which Garzón responded in all
caps: "How fun it would be to drive side-by-
side the police and then pass them by,
triggering the speed radar. Haha, bit of a
fine for [train operator] Renfe, ha ha,"
according to the report.
Garzón, who had 30 years of experience, is
now under investigation. He had started
operating the train just 60 miles before the
crash, and tests performed after the crash
reported that he wasn't under the influence
of alcohol, as reported by El Pais.
Image: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty
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