Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993 TAG: 9309240104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: CHICKASAW, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
He didn't know what kind of bridge until a silver passenger train roared overhead and the crew's confusion turned to horror. In the bloody aftermath, the towboat's shaken crew of four plunged into the water and is credited with pulling 17 passengers to safety.
The death toll from the wreck of the Miami-bound Sunset Limited had reached 44 Thursday, including three members of the train crew whose bodies remained in that engine mired in the muddy bayou bottom. The bodies of two children whose ages were estimated at 6 months and 4 to 5 years were recovered Thursday.
With three people still unaccounted for and 44 dead, the number of survivors has been pegged at 159 - though local and federal authorities are careful to caution that more deaths could be revealed as submerged cars are lifted from the bayou.
Some safety experts on Thursday criticized the lack of equipment that could have warned the Amtrak crew they were about to cross a damaged bridge.
"There are devices in the industry that would have given notice of a collision at that bridge," said Washington lawyer Larry Mann, who represents railroad worker unions.
"The technology is there," he said. "Based on what we know now, this accident could have been prevented. For God's sake, these things should be on every railroad bridge over water."
As blame for Amtrak's deadliest train wreck centers on the Mauvilla and its six barges, the district attorney in nearby Mobile was leading an inquiry by a task force of local, state and federal authorities that could result in criminal charges.
The pilot of the boat, Andrew Stabler, is an experienced river man. He was at his home in Atmore, Ala., Thursday, besieged by reporters.
"I'm not doing too well," he said.
"I don't blame you for trying," he told a reporter. "I'm almost sick of it, though. All I can say in my own defense is, I can't make a comment."
Keywords:
INFOLINE FATALITY
by CNB