Amtrak engineer won’t be charged in crash

PHILADELPHIA — The speeding Amtrak engineer involved in a derailment that killed eight people and injured about 200 others won’t face criminal charges, the city district attorney’s office said Tuesday.

Prosecutors said they can’t prove engineer Brandon Bostian acted with “conscious disregard” when he accelerated the train to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve in Philadelphia.

Federal investigators concluded that Bostian lost track of his location, or “situational awareness,” before the May 12, 2015, crash after learning that a nearby commuter train had been struck with a rock. They found no evidence he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or distracted by a cellphone.

Lawyers Thomas R. Kline and Robert Mongeluzzi, who represent more than 30 victims and their families, described their clients as bitterly disappointed and said many remain in constant pain two years later. the allegations but told reporters he decided it would be best for the city for him to abandon his campaign. He said he will serve out his term through the end of this year.

“It tears me to pieces to step away but I believe it’s in the best interest of this city that I love,” said Murray, 62, flanked by his husband and tearful supporters.

Murray reiterated his denial of the allegations that first emerged last month when a man filed a lawsuit claiming Murray paid him for sex in the 1980s. Three other men also came forward with similar allegations, including one who is jailed on drug charges. homes Tuesday on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp near the Georgia-Florida state line.

The modified DC-10 jetliner, capable of dumping 11,600 gallons of chemical fire retardant in a single run, was joining nearly 700 firefighters and support personnel working to contain the blaze with bulldozers, helicopters and smaller planes.

The fire was burning Tuesday within a few miles of the small towns of St. George and Moniac in southeast Georgia. Emergency officials in surrounding Charlton County ordered those communities to evacuate as flames crept close Sunday.