Mourners packed a memorial service yesterday for the 79 people who died in the country’s worst rail disaster in decades, as investigators prepared to analyse information from the train’s data recording device, or “black box.”

The driver of the train, 52-year-old Francisco Garzon, has been charged with 79 counts of negligent homicide and released pending trial after a judge determined he was not a flight risk.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Prince Felipe were among mourners at yesterday’s mass in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, site of a religious shrine in northwestern Spain where the high-speed train derailed after going through a tight curve too fast.

Investigators should begin analysing data from the train’s data recording device today, trying to discover how Garzon exceeded speed limits despite a control system meant to force him to slow down, a court source said.

Prince Felipe, his wife Letizia, the Infanta Elena, Rajoy, members of the Cabinet and regional leaders stood near the front of the cathedral alongside many of the victims’ families and members of the emergency services. Dozens of well-wishers gathered at the back of the cathedral and in the Plaza del Obradoiro outside.After the service, Felipe, the Archbishop and political leaders passed amongst the mourners and offered individual condolences to the victims’ families.

Sixty-nine people remained in hospital yesterday, with 22 in critical condition.

At 2041 local time on Wednesday the eight-carriage, high-speed train crumpled and caught fire after slamming into a concrete wall. The impact was so strong that one of the carriages was thrown several metres over an embankment.

Examining Magistrate Luis Alaez questioned Garzon in a two-hour hearing behind closed doors on Sunday. media reported that Garzon admitted that he took the curve too fast, saying he had a momentary lapse and forgot what part of the track he was on.