Two killed, 116 hurt in train crash

CAYCE, S.C. — An Amtrak passenger train slammed into a freight train parked on a side track in South Carolina early Sunday, killing two Amtrak employees and injuring more than 110 people, authorities said. It was the third deadly wreck involving Amtrak in less than two months.

The Silver Star was on its way from New York to Miami with nearly 150 people aboard around 2:45 a.m. when it plowed into the CSX train at an estimated 100 kilometres per hour), Gov. Henry McMaster said. The crash happened around a switchyard about 16 km south of Columbia.

The governor said investigators have yet to determine how the Amtrak train ended up on that stretch of track.

“The CSX was on the track it was supposed to be on,” McMaster said.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent investigators.

McMaster said 116 people were taken to four hospitals. The main trauma hospital in the area had three patients in critical or serious condition, with the rest treated for minor injuries such as cuts, bruises and whiplash, said Dr. Steve Shelton, Palmetto Health director of emergency preparedness.

The locomotives of both trains were left crumpled, the Amtrak engine on its side. One car in the middle of the Amtrak train was snapped in half, forming a V off to one side of the tracks.

“It’s a horrible thing to see, to understand the force involved,” McMaster said after touring the scene.

Many passengers were asleep with the train began shaking violently and then slammed to a halt, said passenger Derek Pettaway. “You knew we’d hit something or we’d derailed,” he said.