APRIL 6, 2015
(Photo: Scott Troyanos/Associated Press)
The FBI will announce a reward Friday for information
leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the
derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in 1995, according to a press release.
"The Sunset Limited" train derailed Oct. 9, 1995
in the early morning hours in a remote desert about 70 miles southwest of
Phoenix, according to the release.
The incident resulted in the death of one Amtrak employee
and the serious injury of 12 others, in addition to minor injuries to about 100
others out of the 258 passengers on board, according to the FBI.
The crash was the result of apparently sabotaged tracks, 19
feet of rail were ripped loose and 29 spikes were pulled out and plates that
connect the rails to the railroad ties were removed, a source close to the
investigation initially told reporters.
The same source said that it looked as if someone familiar
with the tracks sabotaged the train because a communication line that would
have signaled a break in the tracks was rigged to disguise the break.
The train, headed from Miami to Los Angeles, plunged off a
railroad bridge and fell 30 feet into a dry wash.The first eight cars behind
the locomotive derailed and four plunged into the wash, including a baggage
car, a dormitory car, two sleepers, a diner, lounge and two coaches.
The four remaining cars, at the end of the train, did not
derail.
The train had 20 crew members and 248 passengers.
Representatives from the FBI, Amtrak Police Department,
Maricopa County Attorney's Office and United States Attorney's Office for the
District of Arizona will be present to announce the reward of up to $310,000
Friday at 9:00 a.m. to be paid collectively by multiple entities, according to the
release.
The announcement will take place at the FBI Phoenix field
office.
Federal investigators search for evidence at the scene of
the Amtrak Sunset Limited wreckage about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix Oct. 9,
1995. (Photo: Eric Drotter/Associated Press)
Source: http://www.azcentral.com