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A panicked Spanish train driver shouted that he was going at more than twice the speed limit “and I’m going to derail!” — moments before his eight cars flew off the tracks.
At least 80 people died, including one American, in the horrific crash, which was captured on chilling video.
Spanish media reported that one of the two drivers was heard telling railroad officials “I’m going 190 [kilometers per hour]” — or about 120 mph — as he headed into a sharp bend where the speed limit is only 50 mph.
A government official said the Madrid-to-Ferrol train may even have been going as fast as 137 mph.
Speculation on what caused the crash centered on Francisco José Garzon, one of the drivers. On Garzon’s Facebook page, deleted hours after Wednesday’s crash, a picture of a speedometer, apparently taken by Garzon inside a train cabin, showed the needle at 200 kph, or about 125 mph.
“Imagine what a rush it would be traveling alongside the civil guard [police], and passing them so that their speed traps go off, Ha ha,” Garzon wrote.
The newspaper El Pais said one of the drivers was trapped in the cabin and called the closest rail station — about two miles away in Santiago de Compostela — by radio after the train hurtled off the rails and burst into flames.
“We’re only human! We’re only human!” he was quoted as saying. “I hope there are no dead because this will fall on my conscience.”
The State Department said one US citizen died and five were injured.
A church in Arlington, Va., said that the woman who perished was Ana Maria Cordoba, an employee of their diocese.
Among those still hospitalized is Stephen Ward, 18, a Mormon missionary from Utah, who suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck, said his dad, Raymond Ward.
Ward said his son has told him he remembers a woman next to him being thrown across the train carriage and seeing bags fly.
Video footage from a security camera showed the train hurtling into a concrete wall at the side of the tracks as carriages jackknifed and the engine overturned. One carriage flew several yards into the air and landed on the other side of a high concrete barrier.
Almost 100 of the 247 people aboard were injured, and 35 of them, including four children, were in serious condition.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a native of the northwestern town of Santiago de Compostela, toured the crash scene alongside rescue workers.
“For a native of Santiago, like me, this is the saddest day,” said Rajoy, who declared Spain would observe a three-day period of mourning.
Spanish officials said Garzon, who is hospitalized, would be questioned as soon as possible. He worked for the state rail company, Renfe, for 30 of his 52 years.
Officials said he had driven the Madrid-Ferrol route for more than a year and had taken control of the train from a second driver about 65 miles before the crash.