COLAtoday

An Amtrak 91 passenger train traveling from New York to Miami collided with a CSX freight train in Cayce near Charleston Hwy. around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, which is about 2 and a half hours south of Asheville.

The two trains were on the same track – and investigators are working to figure out why this mistake happened.

Here’s what we know so far:

As of Sunday morning, at least 70 people are hurt and 2 are dead.
The two deaths are reported to be the two Amtrak employees on-board.
116 people were taken to local hospitals, and others were taken to a middle school near the crash for food, shelter + reunification.
Reports say no one was on the CSX train, and it appears that the Amtrak train was on the wrong track.
5,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the trains post-crash. SCDHEC is cleaning up the material Sunday.
S.C. Governor, Henry McMaster spoke during an emergency press conference around 10 a.m. Sunday morning at the S.C. Emergency Management Division, alongside officials from Lexington County, Amtrak and CSX.
This is the third deadly Amtrak crash within six weeks in the U.S., following last week’s crash in Virginia and December’s crash in Washington state.

The next question is: How can we prevent this from happening again? The Gov. said this should prompt a national conversation about increased rail safety.