Investigators are trying to figure out if human-error caused the violent train crash in South Carolina on Sunday that killed two local men and injured 116 others. However, a law could prevent CSX from footing the bill if it is found liable.
"Everybody was asleep and before you know it, it just crashed," said passenger Wendy Comerico.
"It ripped my chair right off the floor," said passenger George Kephart.
Kephart and Comerico were two of 139 passengers headed to Miami aboard an Amtrak train from New York on Sunday. It collided with a CSX train that was stopped on the tracks.
"Bodies everywhere, people on top of each other," Comerico said.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) examined the wreckage on Monday. The data recorder revealed that the Amtrak train was braking seconds before it crashed and was traveling at an allowed speed of 56 miles per hour. Investigators said they found a track switch in the wrong position, which diverted the Amtrak train off its main track.
First Coast News reached out to personal injury attorney Michael Pajcic who has represented victims of train crashes to the family members of the crew members in the El Faro sinking. He said survivors should consider hiring their own attorney to do an investigation, not wait on the NTSB.
"As a company, they have a moral responsibility to take the passengers who they've put in harms way and give them every possibility to make their lives more convenient and make sure they get the medical care they need," he said.
However, passengers like Comerico said they received little medical assistance and were quickly shipped off into buses.
"The buses were coming to take us to our destination," she said. "That's all they told us."
Furthermore, CSX may not be on the hook to pay for it, even if it's found liable.
In 1991, another CSX crash happened in South Carolina due to a faulty switch. It killed eight people and a Miami police officer, who was one of the ones who died, refused to settle. The case wound up at the U.S. Supreme Court, which held a ruling that awarded her more than $60 million. However, when CSX got the bill, the company handed it over to Amtrak and to taxpayers. Here's why: A 1997 law included a provision that protected freight companies like CSX from being liable even if they caused the accident.