South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster speaks at a press conference following a crash between an Amtrak train and CSX freight train in Cayce, SC, near Charleston Highway and Pine Ridge Road around 2:35 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, 20. At least two people were killed and at least 70 people were injured. (AP Photo/Jeff Blake)CAYCE, S.C. (AP) – An Amtrak passenger train slammed into a parked freight train in the early-morning darkness Sunday after a thrown switch sent it hurtling down a side track, authorities said. Two Amtrak crew members were killed, and more than 100 people were injured.
It was the third deadly wreck involving Amtrak in less than two months.
The Silver Star, en route from New York to Miami with nearly 150 people aboard, was going an estimated 59 mph when it struck the empty CSX train around 2:45 a.m., Gov. Henry McMaster said.
The crash happened near a switchyard about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Columbia where railcars hauling automobiles are loaded and unloaded.
Many of the passengers were asleep when the crash jolted them awake and forced them into the cold.