At least 78 people have been killed in the passenger train derailment in north-western Spain on Wednesday. More than 140 were hurt, 36 seriously, after all eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train came off the tracks near Santiago de Compostela.
Media reports say the train may have been traveling at more than twice the speed limit around a curve. Officials say one of the train's drivers has been put under formal investigation.
It is one of Spain's worst ever train crashes. PM Mariano Rajoy has declared three days of national mourning.
"Today is a very difficult day. Today we have lived through a terrible, dramatic accident, which I fear will stay with us for a long time. "For someone from Santiago, like myself, believe me, this is the saddest Day of Saint James of my life."
Two investigations are being carried out - one judicial, the other by the investigative commission for rail accidents, under the Ministry of Public Works, Mr Rajoy added. Mr Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, has been visiting the scene of the accident.
"I want to express my affection and solidarity with the victims of the terrible train accident in Santiago," Mr Rajoy said earlier.
The black box of the train is now with the judge in charge of the investigation. The president of railway firm Renfe, Julio Gomez Pomar, has said the train in the crash had no technical problems.
"The train had passed an inspection that same morning. Those trains are inspected every 7,500km... Its maintenance record was perfect," he told Spanish radio.
Spain generally has a relatively good record in terms of rail safety, says the BBC's Tom Burridge in Madrid.
This is a country which has invested huge amounts of money in its rail network, he says.
According to official figures, the crash is one of the worst rail disasters in Spanish history.
In 1972, a frontal train crash in Andalusia, in the south of the country, left dozens of people dead. The figures given at the time range between 76 and 86. In 1944, hundreds of people were believed to have been killed in a crash in Torre del Bierzo, in Leon province - though the official account in days of heavy censorship under Gen Francisco Franco gave the figure as 78 killed.
Two investigations are being carried out - one judicial, the other by the investigative commission for rail accidents, under the Ministry of Public Works, Mr Rajoy added. Mr Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, has been visiting the scene of the accident.
"I want to express my affection and solidarity with the victims of the terrible train accident in Santiago," Mr Rajoy said earlier.
The black box of the train is now with the judge in charge of the investigation. The president of railway firm Renfe, Julio Gomez Pomar, has said the train in the crash had no technical problems.
"The train had passed an inspection that same morning. Those trains are inspected every 7,500km... Its maintenance record was perfect," he told Spanish radio.
Spain generally has a relatively good record in terms of rail safety, says the BBC's Tom Burridge in Madrid.
This is a country which has invested huge amounts of money in its rail network, he says.
According to official figures, the crash is one of the worst rail disasters in Spanish history.
In 1972, a frontal train crash in Andalusia, in the south of the country, left dozens of people dead. The figures given at the time range between 76 and 86. In 1944, hundreds of people were believed to have been killed in a crash in Torre del Bierzo, in Leon province - though the official account in days of heavy censorship under Gen Francisco Franco gave the figure as 78 killed.
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