train hurtled off the tracks in northwest Spain killing at least 77 passengers and injuring more than 140, the country's deadliest rail disaster in more than 40 years.
Four carriages overturned in the smash last night, and eye witnesses at the scene say carriages piled into each other and folded up like an accordion.
The accident happened at 8:42 pm (1842 GMT) Wednesday as the train carrying 218 passengers and four staff was about to enter Santiago de Compostela station in the northwestern region of Galicia.
It marks the worst rail accident in Spain since 77 people were killed in 1972 in a derailment in Andalusia in the south.
Rescue workers recovered 73 bodies from the train's wreckage and four more victims died later in hospital, a spokesman for the Galicia high court said Thursday, increasing an earlier toll figure.
Public television TVE said the train may have derailed because it was speeding at the time of the accident but a spokesman for state railway company Renfe said it was too soon to say what caused the accident.
"There is an investigation underway and we have to wait. We will know what the speed is very soon when we consult the train's black box," a Renfe spokesman said.
El Mundo is reporting that the train had been travelling at 220 kilometres (136 miles) per hour in an urban zone with a speed limit of 80 kph.
While The El Pais suggested the train was travelling at 180 kilometres per hour when the accident happened.
The town hall of Santiago de Compostela called off concerts and firework displays that had been planned as part of the festivities in honour of its patron saint.
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