Philly mayor denounces ‘reckless’ engineer

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) blamed an Amtrak engineer late Wednesday for a deadly train accident just outside the city; the train was apparently traveling twice the legal limit.

“Clearly, it was reckless in terms of the driving by the engineer,” Nutter said, according to CNN.

“I don’t know what was going on with him,” he said. “I don’t know what was going on in the cab, but there’s really no excuse that can be offered, literally, unless he had a heart attack.”

{mosads}“There’s no way in the world he should have been going that fast into the curve,” Nutter added.

Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 derailed on Tuesday evening at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour en route from Washington, D.C. to New York. Seven people were killed, and more than 200 injured.

The train’s pace has raised concerns, given that the Federal Railroad Administration lists the speed limit for that section of track as 50 miles per hour.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Robert Sumwalt urged Americans on Wednesday to avoid judging the incident too hastily.

“You’re not going to hear the NTSB making comments like that,” he said of Nutter’s remarks.

“We want to get the facts before we start making judgments,” Sumwalt added.

The NTSB is leading a federal investigation of Tuesday’s events.

The agency announced on Wednesday that Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian, 32, had tried stopping Train 188 before it overturned the night before.

“This person has gone through a very traumatic experience,” Sumwalt said. “He is a very high priority for us.”

Bostian reportedly refused to give a statement to the Philadelphia Police Department on Wednesday concerning the incident.

He has since returned to his home in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, N.Y.