New reports indicate that a woman from Northern Virginia died in the recent Spanish train derailment. The accident, which took place last week, resulted in the death of Virginian Ana-Maria Cordoba.
Cordoba was traveling in Spain with her husband and daughter to visit their son who had recently visited a Catholic holy site. According to recent news reports, 79 people have died so far in the train accident that took place in northwestern Spain.
Police have released Cordoba’s name and it was revealed she worked for the Catholic Diocese in Arlington, VA. She was remembered by her coworkers as a kind, very well respected woman whose work will be greatly missed. Authorities have said that Cordoba’s husband and daughter are both in stable condition at a local Spanish hospital and continuing to recover from their injuries.
Tragically, subsequent investigations have revealed that the “accident” may not have been so accidental after all. Rather than a freak mistake, news reports indicate that the driver was likely distracted at the time of the crash and was actually talking on the phone immediately before the train derailed.
Authorities have said an investigation revealed that the driver, Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, was on the phone with the train’s ticket inspector just before the accident occurred. Amo said he hung up only seconds before the train left the tracks.
The train company responsible for the crash, Renfe, says that the crash was caused by human error and cannot be blamed on any technical trouble. Reports reveal that the derailment resulted in all 13 cars coming off the track. The derailment was caused due to speeding around a small curve. The track in that section has a speed limit of only 50 miles per hour yet records show the driver had been traveling as fast as 119 miles per hour shortly before the crash. Investigators believe the phone conversation distracted the driver who should have applied the brakes miles before the curve, instead only applying them seconds before careening off the rails.
Authorities have said that 79 people died in the crash, the largest number killed in a train accident in Spain in decades. Another 61 people suffered injuries serious enough to require hospitalization. The train in the accident was new and included a variety of sophisticated safety instruments. Despite all the bells and whistles, at the end of the day human error and distraction can still prove deadly.
Our firm has successfully handled many cases on behalf of those injured in railroad accidents. This includes not only members of the public, but conductors, engineers and railroad track workers who spend their days doing dangerous work on the nation’s railways. If you have been injured in a freight train or passenger rail accident and are looking for more information, consider downloading this free report written by our personal injury attorneys who specialize in railroad injury cases.
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