MADRID (AA) - Spain's authorities revised down the death toll as 78 on Friday after a train derailed near north-western city of Santiago de Compostela in the Galicia region, Spain on Thursday.
The death toll of the crash was formerly announced as 80 by Galician government.
Scientific Police Department, which set identification of train crash's victims, stated in a press conference that 78 died in total and that 6 of these were still not identified. 83 were wounded during the crash, 32 in critical condition.
On the other hand, the mechanic Francisco Jose G.A. of the train is accused of 'negligent homicide', who was called to the court to testify and is under police escort. The media covered that G.A. said, "I wanted to die" right after the crash.
The train rounded the bend with 190 km, though it must have been 80 km under normal conditions, according to the talks with control center and black box. It was claimed that G.A. put on the brake very late. The security system within the train was adjusted to step in over 200 km speed and stayed functionless.
Experienced mechanic G.A. (52) knew the bend very well, Spain's national railway network Renfe stated.
Cleaning of the scene of accident would be completed on Friday and train services would resume as of Saturday.
Galicia Autonomous Government had formerly announced they identified 53 of 80 dead.
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had declared three days of national mourning after visiting the site.
7-days of mourning was also declared in Spain's Galicia region on Thursday.
The crash is Spain’s biggest disaster since the 2004 terror attack at Madrid’s Atocha station that left 191 dead, and its worst train crash since 1972 when a collision left 86 dead.
