73°
The governor, joined by U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and a host of state, regional and National Transportation Safety Board officials, toured the scene of the accident Saturday. But answers as to what caused the crash remained elusive.
"Right now, we can't give you an answer," Malloy said at a press conference a few hundred yards from the site of the crash.
The names of the three people in critical condition have not been released. Two are at Bridgeport Hospital and one is at St. Vincent's Medical Center, also in Bridgeport.
The investigation into the crash is expected to take seven to 10 days, said NTSB member Earl Weener. But partial rail service could resume sooner in some capacity, he said.
"We're looking at the braking, the wheels, the tracks, the signaling, all factors, and how the crew was behaving at the time," said Weener.
Data from the trains' "black boxes," which record each train's activities, has already been downloaded and is being analyzed at NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to Weener.
"We not only want to know what happened but why it happened so that we can make sure this never happens again," he said.
Blumenthal and other officials thanked the "amazingly effective and heroic work" of the emergency first responders from Bridgeport and Fairfield who quickly arrived at the scene of the 6:10 p.m. crash.
"When you get up close, the damage is staggering," said Blumenthal. While he and the other officials send their thoughts and prayers to the injured, he said it was fortunate that more people were not hurt in the crash.
"It's safe to say that the focus is on the tracks, but nobody yet knows what caused this," he said.
Murphy said although it is a priority to get commuters back on the trains as quickly as possible, "people will have to have some patience" while the investigation continues.
Himes echoed those sentiments. "While this problem happened in Bridgeport and Fairfield, it is truly a regional problem with national implications."
Read more about the crash at The Daily Voice here.
Check back with The Daily Voice for more on this breaking story.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.
