An Amtrak passenger train apparently travelling on the wrong track crashed into a parked CSX Corp freight train in South Carolina, in the US today, killing two crew members and injuring at least 116 others.
This is the railroad's third fatal crash in as many months, authorities said.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were in Cayce, South Carolina, where Amtrak Train 91, carrying 139 passengers and eight crew to Miami from New York, hit the CSX Corp freight train at about 2:35am (7.35am Irish time) and derailed near the state capital Columbia.
Amtrak engineer Michael Kempf, 54, of Savannah, Georgia, and conductor Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Florida, were killed, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher told reporters at a news conference.
Two of the 116 people injured were in critical condition, authorities said.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"It appears Amtrak was on the wrong track," South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster told reporters. He said the freight train, which had no one aboard, "was on the track it was supposed to be on".
The area has three rows of tracks, and the freight train was parked on a "loading track or a side track" and "not the main track," Mr McMaster said.
"It's a horrible thing to see, to understand what force was involved," Mr McMaster said.
"The first engine of the freight train was torn up, and the single engine of the passenger train is barely recognisable."
Amtrak said it was "deeply saddened" by the deaths. It said CSX owns and maintains the area where the crash occurred.
"CSX controls the dispatching of all trains, including directing the signal systems which control access to sidings and yards," Amtrak said in a statement.
LexCo emergency officials on scene of train collision & derailment near Charleston Hwy and Pine Ridge Rd. Media staging to be held at @SCEMD parking lot. pic.twitter.com/NYggZK1P29
— @CountyofLexington (@CountyLex) February 4, 2018
The passenger train's locomotive was lying on its side, and the first car was bent and also derailed, although it remained upright, according to images from the scene in the small city of Cayce, South Carolina.
At least four cars of the freight train were crumpled but remained on the tracks.
The passenger train was part of Amtrak' Silver Star Service, and the wreck occurred about 8km southwest of the state's capital, Columbia. Local media said some 5,000 gallons of fuel leaked as a result of the collision.
US President Donald Trump was getting regular updates on the crash while at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
My thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims involved in this mornings train collision in South Carolina. Thank you to our incredible First Responders for the work they’ve done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2018
In December, three people were killed when an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Washington state.
In late January, one person was killed following a collision with an Amtrak train and a bin truck in Virginia.
