Engineer’s Error Called Cause of Runaway Train

The runaway train that rolled through Ohio cities and farms with hazardous cargo started its nearly 70-mile journey when an engineer mistakenly hit the throttle instead of the brake, investigators said.

The engineer chased the train and grabbed a railing, said Fred Agler of the Ohio Public Utilities Commission. But the railing was wet from rain and the engineer couldn’t pull himself up; the train dragged the engineer about 80 feet before he fell, Agler said.

The driverless train chugged south for two hours until a railway employee leaped aboard and brought it to a stop.

Federal investigators met with the engineer, who has a unblemished safety record, for several hours Wednesday morning, the CSX railway said.