Keith McDaniel (left), and his wife, Sarah, walk with a railroad official Monday near the scene of a head-on train collision north of Bentonia in Yazoo County as her two sisters follow. Sarah McDaniel said her only child, Shannon Purvis, was one of the four people killed in the collision.
The trains The northbound train carried four locomotives, 11 full cars, 118 empty cars and eight empty chemical cars (the car may still contain residue).
There were two crew members: a conductor and an engineer.
The southbound train consisted of two locomotives, 53 loaded cars, 52 empty cars and two empty chemical cars.
There were two crew members: a conductor and an engineer.
ANDING — The railroad track where two freight trains collided Sunday morning leaving three dead and one missing reopened at 8:30 p.m. Monday.
But the cause of the crash — the second head-on train collision in Mississippi in less than two weeks — could take months if not a year for federal officials to figure out.
Investigators are speculating one of the freight trains was supposed to be parked on a nearby side track, said Debbie Hersman, a member on the National Transportation Safety Board.
But everything is under scrutiny — the condition of the tracks, the equipment, the signals, the cars, the speed of the trains at impact and the human factor, she said. Three black boxes recovered from the crash site Monday may yield some of that information. They contain computerized information such as speed, throttle and breaking data.
However, Hersman said if the boxes are badly damaged, no useful information may be obtained.
Three crew members' bodies have been recovered from the crash of the Canadian National Railroad trains. A fourth crew member still missing Monday was presumed dead.
Although officials are not releasing names, family members have identified two victims: Shannon Purvis, 21, of Puckett, and Mark Cain, 52, of Sallis.
Purvis' mother, Sarah McDaniel of Forest, stood vigil on the bridge at Anding Oil City Road, which crosses over the CN Railroad track.
A picture of her only child clutched in her hands, McDaniel stared north toward the collision site with her husband and two sisters at her side.
Divorced from Purvis' father, McDaniel said she was not notified, but said she knows he was on one of those two trains.
"He was a good child," she said. "He loved the work."
McDaniel said her son began working for the railroad three years ago, an interest sparked by the father of a girlfriend, who had a career with the railroad.
Although the relationship with the young girl didn't last, the enthusiasm for the railroad never waned, his mother said.
"He loved the railroad," McDaniel said.
He would have celebrated his birthday Aug. 23. Instead, the family will celebrate his memory.
Each train had an engineer and a conductor. Hersman said the NTSB will look at their work history, job performance and their activities for the 72 hours before Sunday's pre-dawn accident.
The leading cause of train accidents — 80-90 percent, is due to human error, Hersman said. And in that category, the No. 1 factor is fatigue, she said.
Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers said autopsies of the victims would be scheduled. Those autopsies also will be used to positively identify the victims.
The accident happened about 4:15 a.m. in a curve at mile marker 189.7, Hersman said.
The northbound train from New Orleans, on its way to Iowa, had 137 cars and four locomotives, Hersman said. The southbound train from Champaign, Ill., to Ferguson, had 107 cars and two locomotives.
Diesel oil and other lubricants kept rescuers at bay for 18 hours.
The body of the first victim was recovered Sunday morning. Because of the fire, the second was not recovered until 2:15 a.m. Monday. The third was recovered at 11 a.m. Monday.
A total of 17 cars were derailed, including seven residue cars, one carrying liquefied petroleum gas, one carrying isopropylamine gas (a cleaning solvent) and one full of carbamate pesticide. Others were full of grain, soybeans and clay. Three were empty grain cars.
None of the contents of those cars was breached.
The accident resulted in Amtrak's decision to suspend service Sunday and Monday.
According to the carrier's Web site, The City of New Orleans, which operates between New Orleans and Chicago via Jackson, ended both northbound and southbound runs in Memphis. No alternate transportation was available between Memphis and New Orleans.
NTSB officials estimated repair costs as $60,000 for the tracks and $5,000 for the signal. No damage estimates were available for the equipment.