Train driver and safety chief jailed over Spain rail disaster that killed 79 people
A high-speed train veered off the track on a sharp bend and slammed into a concrete wall before catching fire in 2013, killing 79 people and injuring more than 140 others.
Friday 26 July 2024 17:02, UK
A train driver and former safety chief have been jailed over a rail disaster in Spain that killed 79 people.
A high-speed train veered off the track on a sharp bend near the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela, slammed into a concrete wall and burst into flames in July 2013.
As well as the fatalities, another 143 people were injured in Spain's worst train crash in decades.
Judge Elena Fernandez Curras said that two elements had contributed to the crash.
The first was that the driver - Francisco Garzon - was distracted receiving a call, and the second was that there was no safety system in place in case the driver didn't respect the speed limit.
Garzon and Andres Cortabitarte, the former safety chief of ADIF, a Spanish national rail infrastructure operator, were found guilty of manslaughter as a court ruled they had "breached the duty of care imposed on them by their duties", AFP reported.
They have been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.
The defendants and the insurance companies of ADIF and Renfe - Spain's national state-owned railway company - were ordered to pay €25m (£21m) in damages to the victims in the civil part of the trial.
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In the aftermath of the crash, ADIF identified more than 300 spots on the Spanish railway network where speed changes were needed.
The judicial investigation into the crash was complex and took years, and the trial ran for 10 months.
Despite investigating more than 20 people, only two of them were put on trial.
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Fernandez revised down the official number of people killed to 79 from 80 as she said one of the passengers died as a result of a serious illness weeks after the crash, and not from his injuries.
His relatives will still be compensated as he was injured in the crash.