Cayce train wreck worst in SC since Graniteville
As many as 116 people were injured in the early morning crash that occurred in a wooded area near a collection of small neighborhoods west of
As daylight broke, the crash scene revealed a tangle of crushed freight cars and part of the Amtrak train lying on its side. A top
"It's a horrible thing to see to understand the force that is involved," Gov.
The two people killed in the train wreck were identified as Amtrak employees,
Victims injured in the
Sixty-two of those injured were treated in the
The rest had been treated and released, Brown said. Most suffered minor bumps and bruises, although more serious cases included "solid organ and head injuries," Brown said.
Brown said the biggest challenge hospital staff faced was the volume of patients coming in at the same time. He praised the work of emergency responders at the scene in performing triage before the patients arrived.
The emergency happened during a shift change at
The Amtrak train was enroute from
"The sound was so loud, you instantly knew it was bad,"
One passenger,
"Nobody was panicking, people were in shock more than anything," he said.
At an afternoon news conference Sunday,
Sumwalt, a
The Amtrak train was traveling within the 59 mph speed limit when the crash occurred, according to preliminary information obtained by the
The wreck brought back memories of a fatal 2005 railroad accident in
Allen, who heads the state
"For an Amtrak, this is pretty uncommon,'' Allen told The State newspaper. "We have not in quite sometime dealt with either a train-on-train issue with Amtrak, or even an Amtrak derailment. Certainly, from a passenger rail perspective, it is the worst train wreck in quite some time.''
The
One issue under investigation is the position of a track switch. Initial reports indicated the switch was misaligned, causing the passenger train to run off the main track, Allen said. If that proves true, it would be similar to the cause of both the
After the
"A fully operational positive train control system could have avoided this accident,'' Sumwalt said during a news conference Sunday. "That is what is designed to do.''
Staff writers
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