Relatives of victims of a train crash in northwestern Spain react Thursday near a makeshift morgue inside a sports arena. The death toll from
Relatives of victims of a train crash in northwestern Spain react Thursday near a makeshift morgue inside a sports arena. The death toll from Wednesday's derailment rose to 80. Spain's government said two investigations have been launched into the wreck, which occurred as the train, carrying 218 passengers and five crew members, was approaching the city of Santiago de Compostela. (Brais Lorenzo, The Associated Press)


An Associated Press analysis of video images suggests the train might have been traveling at least twice the speed limit along that curve.

Spain's government said two probes have been launched into Wednesday's derailment on its approach to this Christian festival city in northwest Spain, where planned celebrations in honor of one of Jesus' disciples gave way to a living nightmare.

The regional government in Galicia confirmed that police planned to question the 52-year-old train driver, in Santiago de Compostela's main hospital with unspecified injuries, as both a witness and as a possible suspect. The government cautioned that possible faults in safety equipment also were being investigated.

The Interior Ministry raised the death toll to 80 in what was Spain's deadliest train wreck in four decades. The Galician government said 94 others remained hospitalized in six regional hospitals, 31 of them in critical condition.

The U.S. State Department said one American was killed in the crash and five others were injured. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said those numbers were "likely to change," but she declined to elaborate.

"Today, the American people grieve with our Spanish friends, who are in our thoughts and prayers," President Barack Obama said Thursday in a statement.

In the morning, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a native of Santiago de Compostela, toured the crash scene alongside rescue workers and went to a nearby hospital to visit the wounded and their families. In the evening, Spain's head of state, King Carlos, and Queen Sofia, both dressed in funereal black, went to the same hospital.

"For a native of Santiago, like me, this is the saddest day," said Rajoy, who declared that Spain would observe a three-day period of mourning. He said judicial authorities and the Public Works Ministry had launched parallel investigations into what caused the crash.

Eyewitness accounts and security-camera footage suggested that the eight-carriage train was going too fast as it tried to turn left underneath a road bridge. The train company Renfe said 218 passengers and five crew members were on board. Spanish officials said the speed limit on that section of track is 50 miles per hour.

An Associated Press estimate of the train's speed at the moment of impact using the time stamp of the video and the estimated distance between two pylons gives a range of 89 to 119 mph. Another estimate, calculated on the basis of the typical distance between railroad ties, gives a range of 96 to 112 mph.