Philadelphia Train Derailment: Victim count grows, 106mph train speed discovered
Breaking news has revealed more facts about Tuesday’s train derailment that has sent over 200 injured victims into hospital care and claimed the lives of at least 7. It was announced that at the time of the Philadelphia train derailment, the train was traveling at more than double the speed limit while navigating a curve. Though the speed limit in the area of the track where the train derailment occurred is 50mph, the train was barreling through at 106mph.
This discovery is ominously reminiscent of the deadly MTA Metro North derailment disaster in 2013. The train accident lawyers of The Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff in representing many of the victims, took the lead in the litigation against the MTA.
What Happened In Philadelphia?
Brandon Bostian, the engineer responsible for the train’s operation at the time of the train derailment, remembers driving the train. However, he claims he has “absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual.”
“Clearly it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer. There’s no way in the world he should have been going that fast into the curve,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told CNN. He went on to make comments the NTSB has called inflammatory, saying “I don’t know what was going on with [Mr. Bostian]. I don’t know what was going on in the cab, but there’s really no excuse that can be offered, literally, unless he had a heart attack.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a statement saying that they will give the engineer two days to recover from the shock of the accident and the concussion he sustained at the time of collision. Federal investigators are also providing Mr. Bostian with a few days of recovery time. The Amtrak engineer sustained injuries that have left him with 15 staples in his head, stitches in one leg, and the other leg immobilized.
What Does Mr. Bostian Know?
What is known at this stage of the investigation is that Mr. Bostian called 911 from his cell phone and launched the full emergency brake application.
According to FOX News, Mr. Bostian refused to give a statement to law enforcement.
Meanwhile, the train’s “black box” has been recovered and is being transported for analysis. An NTSB spokesman told reporters, “Our mission is to find out not only what happened, but why it happened, so that we can prevent it from happening again.”
As of Thursday morning, there are still passengers unaccounted for. Search-and-Rescue continues to be the priority as authorities search for the missing passengers from the train’s manifest. There were 238 passengers aboard the train.
The Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff are expert at handling train accident disasters. Our team of train accident attorneys have litigated some of the highest profile cases including the spate of these cases that have occurred recently:
– In May of 2013, two Metro-North trains traveling in opposite directions collided near Bridgeport, Connecticut injuring at least 60 passengers.
– In December of 2013, four people were killed and over 60 were injured when the conductor of the train dosed off and entered a turn at over 70 miles per hour.
– The 2015 Halifax train crash was a derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in Halifax, North Carolina, which occurred on March 9, 2015 when a truck carrying an oversize load obstructed the line on a grade crossing and was struck by the train.
We are continuing to monitor and follow the progress of the investigation findings of this disaster.