Deadly Amtrak Derailment in Philadelphia

Though authorities have not yet unveiled the cause of the deadly Amtrak derailment that killed seven and injured more than 200 in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening, it is suspected that excessive speed was a major contributing factor.

Support for Injured Passengers and Grieving Families

At this time, investigators continue to work the crash site and interpret data from the engine's black box as they attempt to determine the cause or causes of the deadly derailment. Additionally, it has been reported that roughly 12 passengers from the manifest are have still not been accounted for. In the meantime, the families of victims are preparing to lay their loved ones to rest and waiting for answers.

Once the causes of the accident have been ascertained, it may be possible for injured passengers and the families of those who lost their lives in the Philadelphia derailment to recover compensation for their damages by working with an experienced legal team.

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What Caused the Deadly Crash?

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told CNN, "Clearly it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer. There's no way in the world he should have been going that fast into the curve." According to initial data, he was right—the National Transportation Safety Board says that the train went into that last curve at more than 100 mph. The speed limit for the curve was 50 mph, and the limit for the stretch immediately before the curve was 80 mph.

According to Reuters, federal investigators have expressed a need to speak with the train's engineer, Brandon Bostian, but had agreed to give him time to recover from the crash. He was brought in for questioning after his injuries were tended to, but he refused to be interviewed and left with his lawyer.

Bostian's lawyer appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday morning, and stated that his client has no memory of the crash and "no explanation" for it. "He remembers coming into the curve, he remembers attempting to reduce speed, but thereafter he was knocked out just like all the other passengers on the train," the lawyer, Robert Goggin, said. He stressed that his client has told the authorities "everything that he knew", and that he would continue to be cooperative in the investigation.

Despite the fact that investigators are looking into excessive speed as a factor in this derailment, NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt told reporters that he and his team were working to determine any and all possible causes of the incident, which could also include mechanical issues, improper track conditions, or different aspects of "human performance".

Mr. Sumwalt also said that the stretch of track where the derailment occurred was not equipped with an automated speed control system, or positive train control. CNN states that he told reporters: "We feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred."

References:

• CNN
• Reuters