MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

King Juan Carlos visits hospitalized survivors of the Galicia train crash

It all indicates the train took the curve at double the normal speed

King Juan Carlos has said all Spanish people feel the pain of the families of the 80 people killed in a high-speed train crash in north-western Spain. The king was speaking on a visit to the dozens of hospitalised survivors in Santiago de Compostela, near to where the train derailed on Wednesday night.

PM Mariano Rajoy, who hails from the city of the crash, declared three days of official mourning on Thursday. One of the train drivers is under formal investigation, officials say.

The driver, named by Spanish media as Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, was lightly injured and will be questioned by police in hospital, the Galicia Supreme Court said in a statement.

Spain's national train operator Renfe said it was too early to say what caused the train to derail. However, survivor accounts and media reports suggest the train was travelling at excessive speed as it hit a curve in the track.

Footage captured by a security camera shows the train crashing as it hurtled round a bend.

The court's spokeswoman could not confirm if the driver was the only person to be placed under investigation. The spokeswoman also said emergency workers had stopped looking for bodies on the train.

The official source said no statement would be made regarding the cause until the black boxes of the train were examined, but said it was most likely an accident.

“We are moving away from the hypothesis of sabotage or attack,” he said. “It's too early to be 100 percent sure but speeding is a likely cause for the accident.”

Santiago mayor Angel Curras told Cadena Ser radio: “It seems the speed of the train was likely not the right one.” Seven days of official mourning have been declared in the Galicia region.