The person killed when a chartered Amtrak train carrying Republican congressmen on Wednesday struck a garbage truck in Virginia has been identified as a passenger in the truck.
Authorities said the victim was Christopher Foley, 28, of Louisa County, Virginia.
A second but unidentified passenger in the truck was airlifted to University of Virginia Medical Center with critical injuries, the Abermarle County Police Department said in a statement. The truck’s driver was listed in serious condition at the hospital.
The UVA Medical Center said it received six patients from the incident in Crozet, which is located about 13 miles west of Charlottesville. The train had Amfleet cars and P42DC locomotives on the front and rear.
The hospital said one of the patients it received was in critical condition, one was in good condition, three were still being evaluated and one had been discharged.
The National Transportation Safety Board had a team of investigators on the scene by Wednesday afternoon.
NTSB member Earl Weener said investigators wouldn’t speculate on any possible cause of the incident, which Amtrak said occurred at 11:10 a.m. on the Buckingham Branch Railroad. The line is used by Amtrak’s tri-weekly Chicago-New York Cardinal.
Earlier reports said about 100 GOP lawmakers, their aides and families were aboard the train en route to a political retreat being held between Wednesday and Friday at the Greenbrier resort at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
The retreat, which will continue in modified form, was to have a visits from President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Weener said the NTSB will work with representatives from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
He said that Pete Kotowski, a senior highway safety investigator for the NTSB, will be in charge of conducting the investigation.
Weener said investigators initially will focus on the collision site.
“Over the next few days our investigators will work on the scene to document the crash site and gather factual information,” Weener said. “Our mission is to understand not only what happened, but why it happened and to make recommendations to prevent it from happening again.”
He said that investigators will not seek to determine the probable cause while on the scene of the crash.
Weener did say that NTSB investigators will use a number of “factor groups” to analyze the collision site, including human, highway, vehicle, motor carrier and survival factors.
The human factors group, he said, takes into account the potential responsibility of the train engineer, including the operator’s background, licensing, experience and level of training as well as the possible influence of alcohol or drugs.
NTSB officials will attempt to recover recording devices located in the lead and trailing P42DC locomotives.
Weener said there is no evidence that the collision was the result of an attack of some kind.
“The NTSB does safety investigations so the fact that we are here, the presumption is that it was an accident,” Weener said. “Should we find anything that indicates differently, we’ll immediately involve the proper authorities.”
Amtrak spokeswoman Christina Leeds said it was premature to offer specific comment about the incident, but did say that accidents at rail crossings are far too common.
In a news release, Amtrak said it will in the coming days continue to work with the NTSB, law enforcement, Operation Lifesaver and other stakeholders to reduce the frequency of these accidents.
“This is an opportunity to remind everyone about the importance of exercising caution around railroad rights-of-way,” Leeds said.
The passengers aboard the train were taken by bus to the Greenbrier and by early afternoon the train had been taken to Charlottesville.
The investigators told reporters that several witnesses have come forward to say that there had been “issues” with the gates in the days before the incident.
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