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Spanish Train Driver Charged With Homicide


A police car arrives at the courthouse with Francisco Garzon inside in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, Jul. 28, 2013.
A police car arrives at the courthouse with Francisco Garzon inside in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, Jul. 28, 2013.
The driver of a train that derailed Wednesday in northwestern Spain has been charged with 79 counts of reckless homicide.

Francisco Jose Garzon was released on bail Sunday, after being questioned by a judge for two hours.

The High Court of Galicia issued a statement saying the judge ordered Garzon to report to court every week. He is forbidden to leave Spain and is banned from driving trains for six months.

Spanish daily newspaper El Pais reports that Garzon has admitted his responsibility in the accident, which claimed 79 lives. It says the driver acknowledged driving far above the permitted speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour at a curve near Santiago de Campostela where the train derailed.

The 52-year-old driver was hospitalized after the crash -- Spain's worst railway accident in decades.
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