Speeding seen as main suspect in Spain rail disaster

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LIVES LOST. Authorities eye speeding as the main cause of the rail crash that killed 80 people in Spain. In this photo, victims’ relatives gather outside the Cersia building, where psychologists from the Red Cross attend to them. AFP/Cesar Manso

Speeding is the main suspect in a rail disaster in Spain that killed 80 people and left more than 140 injured last Wednesday July 24. One of the drivers told railway officials by radio shortly after the crash that the train had taken the bend at 190 kilometers an hour, unidentified investigation sources told El Pais newspaper. The speed limit in the urban zone around the city of Santiago de Compostela is 80 kilometers an hour. The train flew off the tracks on a curve late Wednesday as it was about to enter Santiago de Compostela station in the northwestern region of Galicia, causing carriages to pile into each other and overturn. But the International Union of Railways, says it is very likely that other factors played a role in the crash. Experts raised questions about the speed signaling system of the track. The high-speed rail track linking Ourense, Santiago de Compostela and La Coruna in Galicia is one of Spain’s newest, having been inaugurated in December 2011. Spain has made massive investments in road and rail links over the past decade and the country has the second-largest high-speed rail network in the world which spans 3,100 kilometers. Only China’s is larger.

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