Amtrak crash: Train 'was travelling double the speed limit'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The National Transportation Safety Board has said the Amtrak train that crashed Tuesday night killing at least seven people was travelling more than double the speed limit.
Robert Sumwalt, board member of the NTSB, said that right before the accident the Amtrak train was moving at a speed of 106 mph on a portion of track where the speed limit was 50 mph.
The train derailed in Philadelphia at around 9:21 pm on Tuesday as it going around a left-hand curve, Mr Sumwalt said. Seven people have been confirmed dead and several others still are missing. More than 200 passengers were taken to the hospital.
The NTSB, which will continue investigating on-site for at least a week, also determined that the engineer applied the emergency brakes just before the train derailed.
Mr Sumwalt said the NTSB will be investigating several factors to determine the cause of the crash, including the operations and condition of the train, and the signals.
"Our mission to to find out not only what happened but why it happened so we can prevent it from happening again," Mr Sumwalt said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments