Spanish Train Crash Driver Identifies Caller

August 1, 2013 by

A Spanish court says the driver of a train that crashed last week killing 79 people has said he was talking by phone to the train’s ticket inspector just before the accident happened but hung up before the train left the tracks.

A court statement said driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo went to the court on his own initiative Wednesday and told the judge he had been speaking with the inspector about which platform to take on arriving at a station.

He told the court he hung up seconds before the train hurtled off the track.

The court said Tuesday data recorders showed the driver was on the phone at the time of the accident.

The statement did not identify the inspector or say whether he survived the crash.