Driver charged over Spain train crash

The driver of the Spanish passenger train that crashed in Santiago de Compostela July 24 was provisionally charged with multiple cases of negligent homicide Sunday, but was released without bail.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Spain's worst rail disaster in 40 years rose to 79, as authorities confirmed that two crash victims were U.S. citizens.

The driver, Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, 52, has been held by police on suspicion of negligent homicide. He hasn't been formally charged or made any official statements.

The 79th person to die in last Wednesday’s train derailment in Spain was identified as Myrta Fariza of Houston, Texas.

Fariza's friends and family had created a Facebook page titled "Hope for Myrta," where they collected donations and communicated while she was in the hospital.

Officials had earlier said a 79th person died today of injuries suffered in Wednesday's crash, but they didn't identify the victim.

Another American victim, Ana Maria Cordoba, 47, was identified last week by the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, where she worked. Her husband and daughter were injured in the crash.

Officials say 70 people injured in the accident are still in the hospital, 22 of them in critical condition.

Garzon, a train conductor with three decades of experience, was arrested Thursday but remains hospitalized with head injuries. 

Last year, Garzon posted a photo on his Facebook page that showed the speedometer in the train hitting 125 mph (201 kph).

“What joy it would be to get level with the police and then go past them making their speed guns go off. Ha ha!'' Garzon wrote in March 2012.

Garzon deactivated his Facebook page on Thursday, according to the New York Daily News.

Al Jazeera and wire services