Black boxes show Spanish train derailed at 179kmh

Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a train derailment in Santiago de Compostela, Spain on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. A Spanish train was hurtling around a curve at 179kmh, more than twice the speed limit, when it leapt off the tracks in a dis
Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a train derailment in Santiago de Compostela, Spain on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. A Spanish train was hurtling around a curve at 179kmh, more than twice the speed limit, when it leapt off the tracks in a disaster that killed 79 people, a report on the contents of the black box recorders showed on Friday, Aug 2, 2013. -- FILE PHOTO: AP
  • Published
    Aug 2, 2013, 9:03 pm SGT

MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish train was hurtling around a curve at 179kmh, more than twice the speed limit, when it leapt off the tracks in a disaster that killed 79 people, a report on the contents of the "black box" recorders showed on Friday.

The driver was on the telephone to the on-board conductor and had stopped speaking just 11 seconds before the July 24 derailment near the north-western city of Santiago de Compostela, said the report released by the high court of the Galicia region.