By a cruel twist of fate, two of the three victims during a large-scale collapse of the passenger train Amtrak were staunch supporters of rail transport. Jim Hamre and Zach Wilhoit were members of the Association of rail passengers — on Monday, the organization confirmed the information in the statement.
The victims were friends. As it turned out, they recently returned from a joint trip to Germany.
61-year-old Jim Hamre was part of the management team of the Association of railway passengers and was Vice President of the nonprofit organization All Aboard Washington. The deceased was working in the railway sector since the beginning of 1970-ies.
facebook.com
35-year-old Zach Wilhoit combined membership in the Association with the position of IT Director of All Aboard Washington. Since 2008 he has worked in the transit Department of the County pier, where there was a train wreck.
source: facebook
The identity of the third victim of the accident has not been disclosed.
We will remind that on Monday the Antrak train No. 501 with 77 passengers on Board derailed at the newly renovated fragment of the railway, near Tacoma, Washington. In the incident 3 people were killed and dozens wounded.
It is known that the vehicle was moving more than twice as fast as the norm for this area. In the scene did not work the system automatic gain control speed (Positive train control), which should slow the movement of trains in such cases. The new technology did not have time to fully implement after the repair.
Currently investigating Committee finds out, could that be the main cause of the crash or there were other factors.