Investigators Find Suspect Train Parts

The reason for a rattling that alarmed some passengers in the minutes before the crash of InterCity Express 884 now seems clear: Investigators said a broken wheel was the most likely cause of the disaster. The damaged wheel was on the first car behind the locomotive. Investigators found the fractured steel rim that circles the wheel and helps keep the train on the tracks lodged in the train car’s rear wheels. Also, an unidentified piece of the train was found on the tracks nearly 4 miles from the concrete and steel bridge that the train struck. That piece corroborates passengers’ recollections of noises and vibrations two minutes before the derailed train crashed, killing at least 98. At 125 mph, the train would have traveled that distance in less than two minutes.