CAYCE, SOUTH CAROLINA — Two people are dead and dozens more injured after an Amtrak collided into a freight train early Sunday — the second deadly Amtrak crash in less than a week.
The Washington Post reports that the accident occurred around 2:35 a.m. in Cayce, South Carolina, as Amtrak train 91 was travelling from New York to Miami with 139 passengers and 9 crew members onboard.
Freight giant CSX managed tracks in the area, but had dispatchers manually routing trains since signal systems were down.
Amtrak 91 was cleared to pass a railroad switch and continue straight down the main line, but the switch was set in the wrong position. Instead of heading straight, the train was diverted into a side track, where it crashed into a stationary freight train.
The impact destroyed several freight cars and caused the Amtrak train to derail. Two crew members were killed and 116 passengers wounded in the collision.
The National Transportation Safety Board is currently looking into the crash, and will focus its investigation on why the rail switch was lined and locked toward the siding.
So far, officials have recovered the front-facing video camera from the Amtrak train, but have been unable to retrieve the event data recorders from either train due to the catastrophic damage.
