US investigators find no obvious cause for fatal 2015 Amtrak crash

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The documents posted online by the National Transportation Safety Board reveal no obvious cause for last year's crash near Philadelphia which killed eight people and wounded 200 more.

PHILADELPHIA (REUTERS) - US federal safety investigators have finished the first phase of their investigation into the crash of an Amtrak passenger train near Philadelphia last year.

But they say they have found no obvious cause for the accident.

The National Transportation Safety board released thousands of pages of documents on Monday (Feb 1) about the derailment that killed eight people and wounded more than 200.

The train was travelling at more than twice the 80kmh speed limit when it derailed.

Attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who represents some of the victims, says that points the finger at engineer Brandon Bostian. "Nowhere is they any justification for Brandon Bostian's reckless decision to accelerate to 106 miles per hour (170kmh) in a curve," he said.

Officials say Mr Bostian had been "extremely cooperative" in the investigation. The NTSB will now focus on trying to determine exactly what caused the fatal accident.

That report should be released this spring.

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