MADRID — A Spanish investigating judge has decided not to name rail company Renfe as a suspect in a crash that killed 79 people in the northwest, according to a court document made public Friday.
The high-speed train Alvia derailed and split apart at a curve near Santiago de Compostela on July 24. About 170 further people were injured.
Judge Luis Alaez rejected a petition from one of the victims to name Renfe a suspect in the case.
But he has earlier issued indictments against those at the rail management company Adif responsible for security on the stretch where the accident occurred.
Adif had signaled a fall of the speed limit at the curve in question, but failed to keep revising and controlling security on the stretch, Alaez said Friday.
Engineer Francisco Jose Garzon has been indicted with 79 counts of homicide through professional imprudence.
Spanish media on Friday quoted a previously unknown recording of a phone call Garzon made to activate an emergency protocol immediately after the crash.
The bend where the train derailed “is inhuman,” the driver is heard saying. “I already told security (officials) that the curve was dangerous, that one day we would get distracted and something like this could happen.
“It happened to me.”
