Santiago train driver apologises on anniversary

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, the driver of the tragic Santiago train, has finally apologised for his role in the crash which claimed 79 lives exactly one year ago.

“I feel a great deal of pain and sorrow,” he, wrote in the letter published in the daily newspaper, La Voz de Galicia.

“It distresses me to think of what words I can say to you, if they will be adequate, if what I say could bother you. All I can do is ask for forgiveness,” he explained in his open letter.

“In reality I don’t know if what I say or feel could provide you with some relief from your tremendous pain,”Garzon added.

“You don’t know how much I would give for that. The harm you have suffered is so great.”

The train was going 179 kilometres per hour (110 mph), which was over twice the speed limit, on a tricky bend, when it flew off the tracks and smashed into a wall. 

He has been charged with 79 counts of reckless homicide, but is currently a free man under court supervision while an investigation continues. Garzon has previously claimed that he had voiced concerns over the bend to officials before the crash but no one listened to him.

However, he seems to have taken a large part of the responsibility here.

El Pais reports that Garzon is currently living in A Coruna, in northern Spain, where he is looking after his ailing mother.

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