Amtrak engineer, conductor killed in train crash near Columbia; 116 others injured

Feb. 04--CAYCE -- At least two people were killed and 116 people were injured early Sunday when an Amtrak passenger train collided with a CSX freight train in South Carolina, officials said.

The crash, which involved Amtrak Train 91 heading from New York to Miami, occurred just after 2:30 a..m. in Cayce, outside Columbia, according to South Carolina Emergency Management officials.

Early estimates indicated that 70 people were injured, but South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said at a press briefing that 116 people had been transferred to local hospitals.

The two people who died were Amtrak employees, McMaster said.

Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher identified the dead as Michael Kempf, 54, of Savannah, Georgia and Michael Cella, 36, of Orange Park, Florida. Kempf was the engineer of the Amtrak train and Cella was the conductor, she said. Several other people are in critical condition, she said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, and McMaster said he would defer to that agency for details about what happened. But he did describe to reporters what he saw at the scene, saying that it appeared to him that the CSX train was stationary on a loading track or side track and that the Amtrak train was "on the wrong track."

"It's a horrible thing to see," he said of the wreckage, adding that a portion of the Amtrak train was "barely recognizable."

About 140 passengers were on the train, officials said. Passenger injuries ranged from scratches to broken bones, Lexington County spokesman Harrison Cahill said.

Dr. Eric Brown, a physician executive with Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, said the hospital system received 62 patients after the train crash. Of those, 59 are adults and three are children, he said.The hospital system has a trauma center, and 48 of the patients were initially sent there, he said. At a press conference shortly after 1 p.m., Brown said that only six of the patients had been admitted to hospitals within the system, and that many had been discharged.

Passengers who were not taken to hospitals are at Pine Ridge Middle School, where the American Red Cross set up an emergency shelter and served breakfast and coffee. McMaster said he counted about 30 passengers at the makeshift shelter Sunday morning and described their spirits as "unusually good."

Cahill said the first 911 call about the collision came in at 2:34 a.m. He said a first responder was on the scene by 2:39 a.m. and that emergency medical technicians first arrived at 2:40 a.m.

Temperatures were in the upper 30s at the time of the collision.

The Amtrak train's lead engine and some passenger cars derailed, Amtrak said in a statement. Photos posted on social media by reporters at the scene showed at least one Amtrak rail car on its side and several CSX cars and engines damaged.

The wreck happened near a rail yard where several spurs branch off for train cars to be unloaded. Investigators don't know if the Amtrak train was diverted from its track.

President Trump, who arrived at the Trump International Golf Club, in West Palm Beach, Fla., at 9:32 a.m. Sunday, "was briefed on the train accident in South Carolina and is receiving regular updates," Deputy White House Press Secretary Lindsay Walters told reporters. "Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected by this incident."

About 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled at the scene, state emergency management officials said. Hazmat crews were dispatched to contain the spill, and there was no threat to the public, they said. McMaster said the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is handling the fuel spill.

Amtrak said people who are seeking information about their friends and loved ones who may have been involved in the crash can call 1-800-523-9101.

Sunday's collision was the second major crash for Amtrak in less than a week. On Wednesday, a train carrying Republican members of Congress to a retreat in West Virginia hit a garbage truck in rural Virginia. The crash killed one person in the truck and left others wounded.

In December, a passenger train derailed on an overpass near Seattle, with cars crashing into the highway below, killing three people.

In 2015, an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring more than 200.

This is a developing story: keep checking back for updates as they come in.

The Associated Press and journalists with USA Today Network contributed to this story.

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