2 Amtrak workers killed, 116 hurt in South Carolina crash

CAYCE, S.C. (AP) — An Amtrak passenger train slammed into a freight train parked on a side track in South Carolina in the early morning darkness Sunday, killing two Amtrak crew members 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 en route 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 59 mph, Gov. Henry McMaster said. The crash happened around a switchyard about 10 miles (16 kilometers) 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 to the scene.

In an emailed statement, Amtrak said that it was “deeply saddened” by the deaths and that it was cooperating fully with the NTSB. It did not address the cause of the crash but said CSX maintains all the tracks and signal systems where the accident happened and controls access to the sidings and yards. CSX did not immediately return an email and telephone call. The force of the crash dislodged a seat and knocked it onto passenger Tronia Dorsey’s legs, said her son, Andre Neblett, who spoke with her. The 43-year-old woman, who escaped with minor scratches and bruises, described a terrifying scene inside the dark compartment, with people screaming and babies wailing, he said.

“It was chaos,” Andre Neblett said after driving in from North Carolina to retrieve his mother’s suitcase from a Red Cross shelter. “She said she was just waiting on somebody to get to her.”

The conductor and engineer aboard the Amtrak locomotive were killed, the coroner’s office said. And 116 people were taken to four hospitals, according to the governor.

At least three patients were hospitalized in critical or serious condition, with nearly all the rest treated for minor injuries such as cuts, bruises and whiplash, authorities said.

Palmetto Health emergency room doctor Eric Brown said so many passengers were hurt that they were brought in on two buses, and a tent that had been set up as a waiting room to keep people separate from flu patients was turned into a triage area.