‘I f****d up, I want to die’: Driver’s agony after train crash that killed 78 in Spain

The driver of a train that crashed in Spain killing at least 78 people said he ‘wanted to die" moments after it hurtled off the tracks.

Francisco Jose Garzon, who was formally detained by police last night, was recorded on the train"s black box desperately asking controllers what to do after the high-speed derailment.

‘I"ve derailed," he told the Alvia Trains control room. ‘What do I do? What am I supposed to do? I f****d up. I want to die."

It comes amid claims the 52-year-old had boasted on his Facebook page about reaching speeds of more than 200kmph (125mph) in the past.

He allegedly posted an image of a speedometer with the caption: ‘What joy it would be to get level with the police and then go past them making their speed guns go off. Ha ha!"

The driver remains under police guard in hospital but cannot yet testify because of his medical condition, police confirmed.

Bloodied: Francisco Jose Garzon is recovering in hospital (Picture: EPA)

Police Chief Jaime Iglesias said that he would be questioned ‘as a suspect for a crime linked to the cause of the accident".

Reports suggest the govement-owned Renfe train was travelling at more than twice the speed limit when it crashed, injuring at least 140 people, on Wednesday evening.

The eight-carriage train, travelling from Madrid to Ferrol, came off the rails on a curve near the city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Dramatic CCTV footage, obtained and published on the website of Spanish newspaper El Pais shows the moment the eight-carriage train left the tracks.

At least 78 people died in the crash (Picture: AP)

A bank holiday in the country has been replaced by three days of national mouing.

‘All Spaniards feel the pain of the families," said Spain"s head of state, King Juan Carlos.