Driver of Amtrak train that derailed, killing eight, says he has no memory of events
Brandon Bostian, the engineer on the train that derailed killing eight, has no memory of events
A portrait of the driver at the helm of a speeding Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia began to emerge as the man's lawyer said his client could not remember the crash, in which eight died.
With the engineer facing intense scrutiny over his role in the accident, Philadelphia police said on Thursday they launched a criminal investigation into Tuesday's crash of the New York-bound train. The locomotive and all seven cars jumped the tracks while barrelling into a curve at more than 160km/h, twice the speed limit.
In the latest revelation of circumstances surrounding the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the train had inexplicably accelerated from about 112km/h to 160-plus km/h in the last 65 seconds before the crash, according to video from the locomotive's front-facing camera.
But his attorney, Robert Goggin, said Bostian was unable to recall hitting the brakes or much else about the derailment, which left a trail of twisted metal and human carnage along the tracks, and injured 200 people.
NTSB member Robert Sumwalt, updating reporters on the board's probe into the cause of the wreck, said the engineer has agreed to be interviewed by investigators, who were giving him time to recuperate from his injuries first, and that he was entitled to be accompanied by his lawyer.
"We look very much forward to the opportunity to interview him. We appreciate that opportunity. We feel that interview will provide us a lot of information," Sumwalt said.