Sen. Bill Cassidy said Thursday the one person who died in the fatal train accident carrying lawmakers to their meeting in West Virginia was already dead when they reached the victims.
“There was an attempt to revive, but it was clear,” Mr. Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, said on Fox News.
He is also a former physician who tried to help the other victim who was still alive after the Amtrak train collided with a dump truck on Wednesday. Several other lawmakers, who are also trained medical professionals, tried to help the person still living as well.
“I went down and I saw Mike Burgess and Brad Wenstrup trying to maintain an airway. The fella had facial trauma,” Mr. Cassidy explained.
“And I picked up his feet to try and get blood going from his feet down to his heart and his brain,” he added.
Mr. Cassidy said he had been told, but could not officially confirm, that the truck was trying to beat the train to cross the tracks and did not make it. He said people in the area say there are a lot of long, slow-moving coal trains that people become impatient with and try to beat before being stuck. The Amtrak train, however, was apparently traveling at a much faster speed than a cargo train would go.
SEE ALSO: Train carrying Republican lawmakers collides with truck
The National Transportation Safety Board is launching a formal investigation to find out what happened.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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