Deadly Train Wrecks: DC Train Crash Toll Reaches 9 and 1 Woman is Killed in Illinois Train Derailment
Two major train accidents have recently been profiled in the US headlines. One is an Illinois train derailment accident that left one woman dead and lead to the evacuation of hundreds of homes. The other is the DC train collision involving two trains that injured more than 70 people and killed 9 others. In Cook County, Will County, DuPage County, and Lake County, our Chicago train accident law firm has spent more than a decade and a half helping train accident victims obtain recovery for their personal injuries. We know how to successfully obtain compensation from large train companies, as well as from the government agencies that are sometimes liable for causing or allowing train accidents to happen.
The deadly DC train accident occurred during rush hour on Monday, when one train slammed into another train. Investigators have been sifting through the rubble for clues as to what caused the fatal wreck that officials are calling the worst commuter rail crash in the DC Metro’s history. Track conditions, train maintenance, operator experience, as well as what operator Jeanice McMillan may have been doing when the crash happened, are just a few of the possible causes under consideration. McMillan , who had only been authorized to operate a Metro train for a few months, died in the train collision.
The National Transportation Safety Board says that they told Metro that some of its older train cars in the Metro fleet needed to be replaced because of concerns regarding how well they could hold up during a train crash. The transit authority, however, decided not to follow these recommendations because the cars were going to be phased out in several years and replacing them sooner would have been an added expense. It was one of these older cars that rear-ended a second train.
The Illinois train derailment accident happened on Friday night when 18 cars carrying ethanol went off the tracks about 80 miles northwest of Chicago. A huge fire broke out and hundreds of homes had to be evacuated. A number of people sitting in a car waiting from a train to pass through a crossing tried to flee from the scene. One woman died while three others sustained sustained serious burn injuries from the flaming ethanol. The train was a Canadian National Railway freight train. Canadian National, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board are all investigating the case of the deadly train crash.
Ill. train derailment explosion kills woman running for safety, hundreds evacuated, Chicago Tribune, June 20, 2009
Officials Seek Clues in Train Crash, NY Times, June 23, 2009
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