Investigation Begins Following Fatal Train Crash In Chester
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Neither Amtrak nor the National Transportation Safety Board are releasing the names of the two Amtrak employees killed in Sunday morning's train accident, but officials have notified their families.
This latest deadly Amtrak accident has several lawmakers calling on the transit agency to review their safety procedures yet again.
"We would like to offer our condolences to the families of the deceased," said Ryan Frigo, NTSB investigator-in-charge.
Tragedy struck Amtrak as two employees lost their lives on the job.
Just before 8 a.m., a passenger train passing through Chester crashed into a backhoe that was on the tracks.
"There were two men working there, one was a 40-year employee, one was a 20-year employee, so they knew what they were doing," said Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa Congressional District 1.
After a briefing with Amtrak's board chairman, Senator Chuck Schumer, D-New York, told reporters the workers were a backhoe operator and a supervisor.
A Facebook post on the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees page identified the victims as members of the union.
The accident happened in Congressman Brady's district. He speculated that a breakdown in communication was to blame.
"Somebody had to dispatch them to go on that track and when they do that they have to let everybody else know there are workers there and to get out of the way when the train is coming at 120 mph," he said.
NTSB lead investigator Frigo said his team will explore all possible causes.
"We will be looking at mechanical, operations signal track human performance and survival factors," he said.
After two deadly Amtrak derailments in his district in less than a year, Brady is vowing to get answers.
"When you find out what happened, we're going to definitely look into whatever we can do to try and make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. "There must've been some kind of breakdown, some type of communication and because of that we have two men dead."
The Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to perform autopsies on the victims Monday morning.