Santiago de Compostela derailment — 24 July 2013 train derailment that killed 79 people
Spain's worst rail accident in over 40 years and the second-deadliest high-speed train crash in history, killing 79 people.
Key Facts
- Date
- 24 July 2013
- Deaths
- 79
- Injured
- 178
- Speed at curve entry
- Over twice the 80 km/h limit
- Train cars derailed
- 13 (4 overturned)
- Driver charged
- 79 counts of homicide by professional recklessness
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Alvia high-speed train, travelling from Madrid to Ferrol, entered a curve approximately 4 kilometres outside Santiago de Compostela station at more than twice the posted speed limit of 80 km/h. The train's data recorder confirmed the excessive speed, and the driver, Francisco José Garzón Amo, was later identified as responsible for failing to reduce speed in time.
On 24 July 2013, all 13 cars of the Alvia train derailed on a bend near Santiago de Compostela, with four cars overturning. The crash was captured on a trackside camera and resulted in 79 deaths and 178 injuries, making it one of the most destructive rail accidents in modern Spanish history.
On 28 July 2013, driver Francisco José Garzón Amo was charged with 79 counts of homicide by professional recklessness and an undetermined number of counts of causing injury. The disaster prompted scrutiny of rail safety standards in Spain and was identified as the country's deadliest rail accident in more than four decades.