The identities of the four people – including two sisters – that were killed when an Amtrak train slammed into a dump truck in Missouri were released Wednesday as transportation officials said that the train was going below the speed limit before Monday’s fatal crash.
Billy Barton II, 54, died when the truck he was driving was struck, along with Rochelle Cook, 58, and Kim Holsapple, 56, both of DeSoto, Kansas, who were passengers on the Los Angeles to Chicago train and died at the scene, authorities said.
Cook and Holsapple were sisters, family and friends told KSHB-TV.
Passenger Binh Phan, 82, died Tuesday at a hospital, according to officials.
Some 150 other people aboard the train were injured in the collision, which happened in rural western Missouri at a “steep” crossing that had no lights or other signals to warn of the train’s approach, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The train was traveling 89 miles per hour and began blowing its horn about a quarter mile from the site in the town of Mendon, officials said, adding that the speed limit at the crossing is 90 miles per hour.
A preliminary investigation found no issues with the train’s brakes or mechanics, according to NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy.
Two locomotives and eight cars derailed when the train hit the rear of the truck, injuring more than half of its 275 passengers and 12 crew members, the agency said.
The Amtrak train had been traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it struck the rear of the truck at a crossing and derailed.
The crossing in the rural area in western Missouri has no lights or other signals to warn of an approaching train, authorities said.
In the wake of the crash, the chief elected official in the county said residents and local leaders have been pushing for a safety upgrade at the railroad crossing for nearly three years.
A spokeswoman for BNSF Railway, which owns the track, declined to comment on “specific conversations” about upgrades to the crossing, citing the ongoing investigation into the deadly crash.
With Post wires
