Spain Train Crash: Driver Held In Hospital

The driver of a train which crashed in Spain, killing at least 80 people, is being held in custody in hospital.

A judge has ordered police to take a statement from the man as three days of mourning began following one of the country's worst rail disasters in decades.

CCTV footage has emerged of the train derailing and hurtling into a concrete wall as it enters a sharp bend at high speed.

Some carriages flipped over and burst into flames on the tracks just outside Santiago de Compostela, a popular pilgrimage city in the northwestern region of Galicia. Bodies and debris were left strewn across the tracks.

More than 140 people, including a Briton and several Americans, were hurt and 31 remain in a serious condition. Officials have warned the number of dead could rise further.

There are reports that the train - carrying 218 passengers plus crew - may have been travelling at twice the speed limit of 80km (50 miles) per hour for that stretch of track.

While the driver is being questioned as a possible suspect, investigators are also trying to establish why failsafe security devices to limit the train's speed had not kicked in.

The security camera footage is backed up with eyewitness accounts that suggest the eight-carriage train was going too fast as the track curved to the left under a road bridge.

According to reports, one of the two drivers at the helm of the train realised what was about to happen before the crash and made a desperate call to Spanish state-owned railway operator Renfe ahead of taking the bend, saying: "I'm going at 190kmh (120mph), I'm going to derail."

In a second call to Renfe after the accident, he explained that he was trapped in the train's loco.

Spanish media have named one of the drivers as Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, 52, who has been treated for injuries and is reportedly the one under investigation.

State-owned Renfe has said the five-year-old train "did not have any technical problems" and had been inspected just hours earlier.

Sky's Robert Nisbet, in Santiago, said: "Whether the speed of the train was due to human error or some kind of technical problem is going to be the source of some inquiry."

The Alvia 730 series train was travelling from Madrid to the port city of Ferrol when it crashed about 8.40pm local time - 7.40pm UK time - on Wednesday.

Firefighters clambered over the twisted metal as they tried to get survivors out of the windows.

Neighbours who ran to the site to help emergency workers have described a "hellish" scene.

"It was like an earthquake," said Martin Rozas who helped pull the wounded from the wreckage and laid blankets over the dead.

"I started helping pull people out. I saw about five people dead."

Many of the dead were taken to a makeshift morgue set up in a sports arena in Santiago, where police and court officials were identifying the bodies.

Relatives of victims sobbed and hugged each other as they sought news about their missing loved ones.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in the city, visited the site and the main hospital and said: "For a native of Santiago, like me, this is the saddest day."

The crash occurred on the eve of a major Christian religious festival honouring St James, the disciple of Jesus whose remains are said to rest in a shrine.

Many of the dead or injured were believed to be Catholic pilgrims converging on the city. The festival was cancelled for the day.

King Juan Carlos has also visited survivors and the country's royal family has suspended all engagements, while messages of support have come from the likes of British Foreign Secretary William Hague and President Barack Obama, who said he was "shocked and saddened".