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Derailed Amtrak Train Was Traveling More Than 100 MPH, Some Victims ID'd

This story has been updated.

A look at the devastation at the site of the derailment near Philadelphia.

A look at the devastation at the site of the derailment near Philadelphia.

Photo Credit: NTSB
Justin Zemser, a wide receiver on Navy's sprint football team, was among those killed in Wednesday's derailment.

Justin Zemser, a wide receiver on Navy's sprint football team, was among those killed in Wednesday's derailment.

Photo Credit: Navy Sports
Rachel Jacobs, CEO of the ApprenNet tech company, has been reported missing.

Rachel Jacobs, CEO of the ApprenNet tech company, has been reported missing.

Photo Credit: LinkedIn

PHILADELPHIA -- The Amtrak train that derailed near Philadelphia late Tuesday night was traveling more than twice the authorized speed limit on the area of the tracks where seven were killed and more than 200 injured, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday afternoon.

The authorized speed in the curve was 50 miles per hour. The speed when “engineer induced braking” was applied on the New York-bound Amtrak Train 188 was 106 mph, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said, noting the information came from black box data recorders recorded in the wreckage. 

The engineer and conductor survived the crash, as did three other crew members. 

The engineer, identified as Brandon Boshan, 32, of Forrest Hills reportedly declined to give a statement to officials until he has legal representation, according to a report on thehill.com. Boshan suffered a head wound, according to the report.

There were 238 passengers on the train.

A U.S. Navy midshipman was among the seven victims as the search for more bodies continues.

Rockaway Beach, N.Y., native Justin Zemser, who was on a break from the U.S. Naval Academy returning home to Queens, was the midshipman.

The 20-year-old Zemser was a wide receiver on Navy's sprint football team. He was student government president at Channel View High School in Queens.

Associated Press video software architect Jim Gaines, 48, was also killed in the crash.

Rachel Jacobs, CEO of the ApprenNet tech company and a graduate of Columbia University's Business School, has been reported missing, according to CNN.

Robert Gildersleeve, a Minneapolis businessman in New York on business, is also missing, CNN reports.

Other victims or missing have not yet been identified.

Amtrak service from Philadelphia to New York has been suspended indefinitely after the derailment. There is limited service from New York to Boston

 

 

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