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CNN Live At Daybreak

Was It Extreme Heat That Forced Amtrak Train to Derail?

Aired July 30, 2002 - 05:02   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Was it extreme heat that buckled the track and forced an Amtrak train to derail? It is a question investigators are looking into near Washington, D.C. We do know the derailment has injured more than 100 people. Six of them are in critical condition this morning.

We want to get the latest now on what's happening at the scene of the train derailment.

Our Keith Oppenheim joins us live by phone from Kensington, Maryland -- what can you tell us, Keith?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are working hard to figure out why this happened. They're interviewing crew members, passengers and, of course, they're taking a look at the wreckage site.

The name of the train is the Capitol Limited. It's a 15 car train. Six of the cars went on their sides and one actually rolled down an embankment and the train derailed at 1:55 yesterday afternoon.

Now, this train was going from Chicago to Washington, D.C. It was actually only about 10 minutes away from its destination, Union Station in Washington. A hundred fifty-one passengers and 12 crew members were on board. At least 97 injured. No fatalities, that's the good news to report. But as you indicated, there are about six people who had very tough injuries, life threatening potentially.

Now, one thing that investigators are surely going to be looking at is just the heat factor. The tracks have a warped look to them right now and there's a possibility that yesterday's heat, which was in the upper '90s, could have caused these tracks to buckle. They don't know that yet, but they're looking at that.

The rail line, by the way, is owned by the freight rail company CSX and CSX is saying that the tracks were inspected on Sunday afternoon, no problems were detected and that there was a freight train carrying 91 tons that went over the tracks without incident shortly before this Amtrak derailment.

It is a standard procedure, by the way, Carol, for the engineer to be drug and alcohol tested. So that's being done. And also, Amtrak officials say that the train was going at 60 miles per hour, which was under the 70 miles per hour legal limit here.

COSTELLO: Well, there's something flying around out there, Keith, that there was a 25 mile per hour limit on the track that was lifted Sunday. Had you heard anything about that?

OPPENHEIM: I think what they are trying to figure out is whether or not there had been a change from what they were imposing on Sunday until now. And it appears that at least from Sunday until now that the train was observing the rules of the road. Whether or not those were proper rules for the track is something that is a question of investigation.

COSTELLO: OK, hopefully we'll get much more information later on today.

Thank you, Keith Oppenheim, reporting live from Kensington, Maryland this morning.

You know, Monday was not a good day for Amtrak. At least two other deadly incidents involved Amtrak trains. In Fresno, California, the driver of a van died trying to beat a train across the tracks. Police say the driver ignored the crossing gate and flashing lights.

In Nevada, about 12 miles from Reno, one person was killed and another injured at a crossing. This crossing, though, was unguarded. Authorities say Amtrak's California Zephyr struck a car as it was going over the tracks. No one on the train was hurt.

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