Train wreck toll lowered

Goglia says all of the confirmed fatalities occurred in one sleeper car 222K/22 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Investigator blasts Amtrak's record-keeping

March 17, 1999
Web posted at: 3:12 p.m. EST (2012 GMT)

In this story: Number on board unknown Telltale tire marks? Partial re-enactment RELATED STORIES, SITES

BOURBONNAIS, Illinois (CNN) -- Investigators trying to determine if a truck driver's impatience might have led to a fiery railroad crash said Wednesday the number of confirmed fatalities was 11 and not 13, as reported earlier.

The lead federal investigator also criticized Amtrak for not knowing how many people were on the train involved in Monday night's collision at a railroad crossing in Bourbonnais, Illinois, about 50 miles south of Chicago.

John Goglia of the National Transportation Safety Board told reporters the revised death count was based on information provided by the local coroner's office.

"The work is not finished," he added, because not all of the debris had been examined in a double-deck sleeping car where all the known deaths occurred. "That is going to take some time," Goglia said.

More than 100 people were injured when the south-bound train out of Chicago hit a flatbed tractor-trailer rig loaded with steel bars about 9:45 p.m. on Monday, derailing all but three of the train's 14 cars.

Number on board unknown

"The City of New Orleans," as the train is called, was carrying 196 passengers, 19 Amtrak crew members and two Illinois Central Railroad employees, Amtrak has said.

Rescue workers mark train cars that have been fully searched for victims

But Goglia said that accounting was "unreliable."

"We are not happy with the way information is flowing (to us) from Amtrak," Goglia said at a news conference not far from the accident site.

"As I stand here talking to you, I cannot tell you how many people were on that train," he said. "That is an issue that we are going to look into."

"We had similar issues with the airlines in years past and there were some pretty strong regulations put in place that govern how quickly we get information from the airlines," the NTSB official said.

There was no immediate response from Amtrak.

Telltale tire marks?

The NTSB is investigating whether the truck driver involved in the Amtrak crash tried to drive around the crossing gates in an attempt to beat the oncoming train.

Goglia said the driver, John Stokes, and the train's engineer would be re-interviewed as part of the investigation.

Both Stokes and the engineer were questioned Tuesday, but investigators said the engineer was taking medication as a result of the crash and had trouble answering questions.

The warning system at the Bourbonnais crossing will also be examined, he said.

In addition, "the Illinois State Police are working with us to (determine whether) some tire tracks that were found in the mud to the left side of the roadway ... came from the truck," Goglia told CNN.

"If they did, it would be a clear indication that this guy tried to go around the grade crossing barriers," he said.

Clean-up crews remove twisted, scorched metal

Investigators said on Tuesday the crossing gates were down and the signal lights were flashing.

But Stokes, 58, of Manteno, Illinois, told them he didn't see the train approach and that the warning lights started flashing after he started across the tracks near a Birmingham Steel Co. mill.

Stokes was driving on a probationary license after receiving three speeding tickets in a year, authorities said.

Goglia said that a breath test of the truck driver showed no sign of alcohol, but that investigators were still waiting on blood and urine tests.

Partial re-enactment

On Wednesday night, investigators planned what Goglia called a "sight-distance" testing, a partial re-enactment using another train engine and a similar truck, to find out what Stokes could see as he approached the railway crossing.

"We are going to determine what he could see from the truck," Goglia said.

He also said that railroad cars that were on a siding at the time of the crash are still in place. "You can see that they would limit your vision up the track."

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