The driver of a Spanish train is under investigation after his train derailed on a sharp bend and caught fire, killing at least 80 people. Spanish media is reporting that the cause of the accident was excessive speeding.

The Supreme Court of the Galicia region said the train driver is being held in custody at hospital. El Pais newspaper said the train entered the bend at 190 kilometres per hour while the speed limit on that stretch of twin tracks was 80 kilometres per hour.

Investigators were trying to urgently establish why the train was going so fast and why failsafe security devices to keep speeds within permitted limits, had not worked.

The eight-carriage high speed train came off the tracks just outside the pilgrimage centre of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain on Wednesday night. It was one of the worst rail accidents in Europe in more than 25 years.