Death toll from Spain's train crash rises

July 28, 2013 at 9:35 a.m. | Updated July 28, 2013 at 11:27 a.m.

by The Associated Press

This combo image taken from security camera video shows clockwise from top left a train derailing in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on Wednesday July 24, 2013. Spanish investigators tried to determine Thursday why a passenger train jumped the tracks and sent eight cars crashing into each other just before arriving in this northwestern shrine city on the eve of a major Christian religious festival, killing at least 77 people and injuring more than 140. (AP Photo)
This combo image taken from security camera video shows clockwise from top left a train derailing in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on Wednesday July 24, 2013. Spanish investigators tried to determine Thursday why a passenger train jumped the tracks and sent eight cars crashing into each other just before arriving in this northwestern shrine city on the eve of a major Christian religious festival, killing at least 77 people and injuring more than 140. (AP Photo)

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — An official says the death toll from Spain's train derailment has risen to 79 after an injured passenger died in a hospital.

The spokeswoman from the regional government of Galicia told The Associated Press the death occurred Sunday.

A spokeswoman at the University Hospital complex in Santiago de Compostela confirmed the fatality, but did not identify the victim.

However, Spanish national broadcaster RTVE said the person was an American woman.

The train crashed Wednesday evening.

A local resident who rushed to the scene of the accident said in an interview published Sunday that minutes after the crash the driver said he had been going fast and couldn't brake.

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