Derailed Amtrak Engineer Refuses Police Interview After Hospital Treatment

The engineer of the Amtrak train that derailed near Philadelphia on Tuesday refused an interview with the Philadelphia Police Department after receiving hospital care, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said at a press conference on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the US National Transportation Safety Board said at a press briefing that the Amtrak train derailed shortly after the train engineer applied the brakes when the train was going around the curve.

Seven of the 238 passengers are confirmed dead and more than 200 were injured in the accident.

“He was interviewed by police, and it was a short interview in which he indicated he didn’t want to be interviewed,” Nutter said. “He went to the hospital, and received treatment.”

On Tuesday night, Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188, carrying 238 passengers and five crew members from Washington, DC to New York City, derailed and rolled onto its side near Philadelphia.

Nutter said the train engineer was injured after his train car tumbled when the entire train derailed by going more than twice the speed limit of 50 miles per hour around a curve.

“No common sense person would think it’s alright to go at that speed,” Nutter concluded. “We in Philadelphia are expressive in our language, and I expressed my opinion as mayor and a citizen.”

Amtrak is a US publicly-funded railroad operated and managed as a for-profit corporation and provides intercity passenger train service in the United States.