- Title: SPAIN: Spanish train driver freed pending trial on charges of reckless homicide
- Date: 29th July 2013
- Summary: SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, SPAIN (JULY 29, 2013) (REUTERS) PEOPLE IN AN OUTDOOR CAFE IN A SQUARE OF THE OLD TOWN OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA STEEPLE OF CATHEDRAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SAMUEL JUAREZ, DELEGATE OF GALICIA'S REGIONAL GOVERNMENT, SAYING: "At this time he is free. People who are free are not watched over by police." WOMAN WALKING UP STAIRS AT OBRADOIRO SQUARE TO TAK
- Embargoed: 13th August 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Conflict,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA460RS9S26XX3PGN8VW7O4V485
- Story Text: The driver of the Spanish high-speed train that derailed and killed 79 people was released pending trial on charges of reckless homicide, a judge ruled on Sunday night (July 28).
Francisco Garzon, 52, had been under arrest since Thursday. He is suspected of driving the train too fast through a tight curve on the outskirts of the north-western Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.
Examining Magistrate Luis Alaez formally charged Garzon with "79 counts of homicide and numerous offences of bodily harm, all of them committed through professional recklessness," the court said in a statement.
In a closed-door hearing before Judge Alaez, Garzon admitted taking the curve too fast, blaming it on a momentary lapse, according to media reports.
Alaez set the following conditions of release: Garzon must check in regularly with the court, surrender his passport and not drive trains.
None of the parties in the case, which include state train operator Renfe, state railway firm Adif and two insurance companies, had asked for Garzon to be jailed pending trial, and he was not seen as a flight risk, the court statement said.
Garzon's whereabouts are unknown but Samuel Juarez, a delegate of the Regional Government of Galicia, said on Monday the driver was not under police protection.
"At this time he is free. People who are free are not watched over by police," Juarez.
The Regional Government delegate said he had spoken to Garzon shortly after the accident in an effort to find out what had happened and rule out the possibility of an attack.
"I spoke to the train driver not long after the accident when I arrived at the wreckage site and at that moment, above all, my objective was to clear some doubts and confusion over the cause of the accident," Juarez said. "That was basically the conversation I had with the driver, to try to get an indication of what had happened, to know whether it was an accident or an attack."
Juarez also called on people to respect Garzon's privacy and allow the court to do its job.
"We have to respect his privacy now and the presumption of innocence like with everyone else and let the judges do their job and get to the bottom of everything," Juarez said.
At 8:41 p.m. on Wednesday the eight-carriage, high-speed train slammed into a concrete wall, crumpled, and some of the cars caught fire. The impact was so strong that one of the carriages was thrown several metres high over an embankment.
The death toll from Spain's worst train disaster in decades rose to 79 after one injured person - a woman from the United States - died on Sunday.
Seventy people remain hospitalised with injuries from the crash, 22 are in critical condition.
Garzon has worked for Renfe for 30 years, 10 as a driver. His father also worked on the rails and he grew up in Renfe-owned housing in the northwestern town of Monforte de Lemos and went to school with other train-workers' children.
Juan Jesus Fraile, leader of the train drivers union SEMAF, visited Garzon whist he was in hospital being treated for a head injury.
"We knew he was a top professional and a great person, a very prudent and what we found was a very upset person, nervous, in a state of shock without really knowing what had happened," he said.
"We didn't talk too much about the accident, he said he could not explain what had happened and did not know very well what took place."
On Saturday (July 28) Garzon was released from the hospital but remained in police custody until he was taken to the hearing at Santiago de Compostela's main courthouse on Sunday (July 29) early evening.
Neither lawyers nor members of Garzon's family could be reached for comment.
Judge Luis Alaez has been assigned to investigate the case and will also look at whether the train, the tracks or the security system that slows down the trains were at fault. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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