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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Driver in fatal crash of train detained

From Wire Reports

Santiago de Compostela, Spain – The driver of the train that derailed in northwest Spain, which killed or injured more than 200 people, has been formally detained and will be questioned by authorities, Spanish police said Friday.

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo is in the hospital recovering from injuries sustained in the wreck. Once doctors give the go-ahead, investigators are expected to quiz Garzon Amo about the circumstances surrounding the accident.

Spain’s Interior Ministry, which had put the death toll at 80, revised that figure downward slightly Friday to 78.

Authorities are eager to hear Garzon Amo’s account of why the train appeared to be traveling at what some passengers described as extremely high speed.

Ex-IMF chief to face pimping charges

Paris – Former International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to be tried on charges of pimping, a French investigating magistrate said Friday.

The case involves an alleged prostitution ring at the luxury Hotel Carlton in Lille. Police last year questioned Strauss-Kahn after he was named by two of the prostitutes. He admitted to having attended parties at the Carlton, but he said he was unaware that the women were being paid for sex.

Last month, the state prosecutor’s office in Lille recommended that the charges be dropped, citing insufficient evidence. Friday’s decision expressly rejected calls that the case be dropped for now, as it heads to court.