The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source: AP, Fox
Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:31 PM
Surviving Passengers Speak Out After AMTRAK Crash Kills One, Injures More Than 100 In SC Over Weekend
Passengers on a train that slammed into an empty freight train describe a smoky, bloody scene in 911 calls released to the news media.
In one call released Tuesday to WIS-TV , a woman tells a dispatcher that she sees "babies with their heads busted open" in the passenger cars.
The Amtrak conductor and engineer were killed early Sunday when the train collided with a freight train parked on a side track near Cayce (CAY-see), South Carolina. More than 100 passengers were treated at hospitals for injuries.
In another call, a man describes seeing smoke inside the cars and "a lot of people hurt." An Amtrak employee asks dispatchers to send "plenty of help" for the injured.
Federal investigators said Monday a locked manual switch forced the passenger train onto a side track where the empty freight train was parked.
