Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- A team of three investigators from the National Transporation Safety Board will try to determine why an Amtrak train struck three workers in Providence yesterday, killing one of them and seriously injuring two others.

The investigators will spend about a week in Providence, but it could be nine months to a year before they issue a report on the accident's probable cause, Ruben Payan, lead investigator for the NTSB, said at a press conference this afternoon.

Among other things, the team will conduct interviews and will review the Acela train's event recorder, which Payan likened to an airplane's black box. The recorder should indicate such factors as the train's speed, use of brakes and whether any warnings were given.

Amtrak today identified the man who was killed as a contract employee with an architectural engineering firm. Gary Graves, who worked for HNTB Holdings, of Kansas City, Mo., was struck at about 1:15 p.m. yesterday while he and two other workers were inspecting the tracks, according to Tracy Connell, an Amtrak spokeswoman.

The other two workers were Amtrak employees. Their names have not been released.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Mike McKinney

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