Truck firm in Amtrak crash cited for prior violations

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The trucking company whose driver barreled into an Amtrak train in Nevada killing at least six people last Friday has multiple prior safety citations, authorities said late on Sunday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said that Nevada-based John Davis Trucking has been involved in 19 random roadside inspections since September 2010.

Seven of the inspections resulted in violations, NTSB member Earl Weener told a news conference in Nevada.

None of the violations involved the tractor trailer rig that slammed through railroad gates and into a passing Amtrak cross-country commuter train early Friday.

A call placed with the company, based in Battle Mountain, Nevada, was not immediately returned on Sunday.

Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Chuck Allen said the number of people left unaccounted for following the crash has been lowered to five as of Sunday, from a previous figure of 28. The death toll remained at six, with dozens more injured.

Allen said that forensic anthropologists were expected to join officials from the Churchill County Coroner's Office on Monday, as they continue to search for bodies in the second of two badly burned rail cars.

"They want to have the specialists in that field to help with that inspection ... there are structural issues with that second car, and they do not want to make that situation worse by injuring someone," he told Reuters.

Weener said the NTSB has been in contact with the trucking company and is reviewing both the firm's records and those of the driver.

Investigators will examine the driver's health and medical history in addition to his training record and experience, he said. The NTSB will meet with the company on Tuesday.

'SIGNALS OPERATING PROPERLY'

The NTSB reported earlier that the driver of the truck slammed on his brakes just 320 feet before the rail crossing, apparently failing to see signs, flashing lights and closed signal arms.

Initial inspections have found that the crossing signal was set to activate 25 seconds prior to the train's arrival, and would have been visible from half a mile away to a truck traveling at the speed limit of 70 m.p.h.

"The data so far indicates that all signals and gates were operating properly (and) there was excellent visibility of the track," said Weener.

Among those killed in the smash at the crossing on U.S. Route 95 near Lovelock, about 70 miles east of Reno, were the truck driver and train conductor, the Nevada Highway Patrol has said.

The truck, which was leading a convoy of three tractor-trailer rigs, was traveling at such a high rate of speed at the time of the impact that it embedded itself in the side of the train.

Due to the severity of the damage, investigators have not been able to retrieve the truck's engine data recorder, which is expected to yield up key information.

Authorities have begun to interview witnesses in the area. The results of an autopsy and toxicology testing on the deceased driver are expected to take a number of days.

"There's just a lot of loose ends which you start to have tying up as fast as you can," Weener said. "So I think the investigation is going quite well at this point."

(Editing by Tim Gaynor)