Derailed Amtrak train was traveling 80 mph in 30 mph zone, safety board says

By: Michael Sheetz, Chloe Aiello, Hileng Tan – CNBC

Three people were killed when an Amtrak train derailed near Seattle Monday and landed on Interstate 5, the Washington State Patrol said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a late night news conference that the train was travelling 80 miles per hour (mph) in a 30 mph zone, NBC News reported.

The NTSB said that data recovered from an event recorder at the rear of the train had provided information on the train's speed at the time of the derailment.

Amtrak said in a statement there were approximately 80 passengers, five crew members and one technician on board the Cascades Train 501, which was on the first day of service for the route. It was operating from Seattle and Portland, Oregon…