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CNN Live Today

Four People Killed in Amtrak Train Crash

Aired April 19, 2002 - 11:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Federal investigators are at work at the scene of a fatal Amtrak crash in Florida. Four people were killed in this wreck. Among the new details that are emerging, the train engineer hit the brakes very hard just before the derailment took place.

Our Mark Potter is at the crash site to bring us up to date -- Mark, hello.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Yes, crash investigators are here on the scene. They are from the National Transportation Safety Board. They have taken over the case, and they are trying to figure why this train derailed yesterday afternoon.

As you can see here, this was a very dramatic derailment. That's one of the dining cars. You can see people here, reporters and investigators. This has drawn a lot of attention. The reporters are here, because we are expecting a briefing from the National Transportation Safety board in about 35 minutes.

Now, hat we have been told -- you alluded to this a minute ago -- by the Florida Highway Patrol, is that right before the derailment, just moments before, the train engineer hit the brakes, performing a full emergency stop. We don't know why he did that. the engineer, though, was not hurt and is reportedly cooperating with investigators. So hopefully, we will get some information for you a little bit later.

What we know is that most of the passenger cars were the ones that derailed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. WILLIAM LEEPER, FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL: There were 14 cars actually derailed, about 40 total in the train. The first two engines stayed on the track. The two cars after that stayed on the track, and then 14 derailed with about 468 passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And unfortunately, it's mostly the passenger cars, right?

LEEPER: All the ones that derailed were basically passenger vehicles.

(END VIDEO CLIP) POTTER: And, Daryn, the bad news there is that those passenger cars were filled with tourists, mostly elderly tourists. Four people were killed in this derailment, according to Amtrak; 133 people were taken to the hospital, although all but 32 were released overnight.

All of the survivors were rescued from the train by nightfall yesterday, although there was a period where it was being reported that 75 people were trapped in the train. But investigators came here from other counties, and they were able to get everybody out relatively quickly. And Amtrak says that everyone now, who was on the manifest, has been accounted for.

So this is no longer a rescue operation here on the site. The focus is now on the investigation, trying to figure out what happened. And hopefully we'll have some word on what the engineer has to say, and as soon as we have it, we'll bring it to you -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Well, Mark, we are going to look forward to that. I was interested in reading about this train. That is this auto train you put your car on it and get it at one place and then you go the next place, and then you have car with you. So I imagine that some of these folks...

POTTER: That's right. It's a very...

KAGAN: They are double stranded. I mean, once even -- well, they survived, but they are off the train and now probably their car is in the middle of that wreck as well.

POTTER: Exactly. And it's a very popular train. A lot of people use it, because they can take their cars with them. The passenger cars are up front. The car carriers are in the back. They were barely affected, by the way, by this derailment. It just happened to be the passenger cars.

And, yes, a lot of people are stranded. They were taken to hotels in Orlando. And Amtrak says it's doing everything it can to help these people and to get them back home as quickly as Amtrak can do that.

KAGAN: Mark Potter in north Florida -- Mark, thank you very much. We will come back to you with more information.

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