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Conductor Immediately After Spain Train Crash: 'I F----d Up. I Want To Die.'

Michael Kelley   

Conductor Immediately After Spain Train Crash: 'I F----d Up. I Want To Die.'

train

REUTERS/Oscar Corral

An injured man, identified by Spanish newspapers El Pais and El Mundo as the train driver Francisco Jose Garzon, is helped by a policeman after a train crashed near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013.

The conductor of a train that derailed in northwestern Spain — killing at least 80 people and injuring more than 130 others — knew immediately that he screwed up and asked what to do, El Mundo reports.

"I’ve derailed," Francisco Jose Garzon frantically told the Alvia Trains control room, according to transcripts of conversations in the aftermath. "What do I do? What am I supposed to do?"

He then reportedly told rescuers: "I f----d up. I want to die."

The 52-year-old has been detained by police after Wednesday's accident.

The Metro reports that Garzon previously boasted on his Facebook page about reaching speeds of more than 125 mph (200k mph) in the past.

He allegedly posted an image of a speedometer with the caption: "What joy it would be to get level with the police and then go past them making their speed guns go off. Ha ha!"

El Mundo reported the train, traveling from Madrid to Ferrol, may have approached speeds of up to 118 mph (190 km/h) — the limit is 50 mph (80 km/h) at the curve approaching the station at Santiago.

spain

REUTERS/Oscar Corral

Rescue workers pull victims from a train crash near Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, July 24, 2013.

One of the dead has been identified as American Ana Maria Cordoba, from northern Virginia.

El Mundo notes that police have not begun listening to the train's two black boxes, contrary to reports.

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