By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, August 1, 1991
The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page A10
Richard Umbrino Jr. and Arthur Colombino took the train back from a Florida vacation because they were afraid to fly.
But after their experiences aboard the ill-fated Amtrak Silver Star, which they boarded in Winter Haven, Fla., early Wednesday, the Point Pleasant men said they won’t be getting on a train again anytime soon.
Umbrino, 20, and Colombino, 19, described several minutes of terror and mayhem aboard the train that crashed in Camden, S.C., killing at least seven aboard and injuring dozens more.
After landing Wednesday evening at Newark International Airport with four other survivors, Umbrino said one of the men killed was just ahead of him on the train.
“His leg was twisted around, he was bleeding from his head and chest, and I think his lungs were punctured,” said the junior at Kean College in Union.
The survivors also questioned claims by authorities that the train was going below the 79 mph speed limit before it crashed, saying that few aboard could sleep because it was moving so fast.
The train’s lights were knocked out almost immediately after the crash, Colombino said, and people were flung about the car as it skidded for a long distance on its side. Glass from shattered windows flew in all directions.
The two men, neither of whom was hurt, said a woman immediately behind them was traveling with two children.
“Everybody was screaming,” Umbrino said. “She was screaming, `Hold my hand. . . . You have to take care of my baby.”
Martin and Diana Santos of the Bronx and their two children also arrived in Newark on Wednesday. They said a local minister gave them a ride from the crash site to the airport in Columbia, S.C.
“At the point of impact, I only thought of running to my children and then off the train,” said Mrs. Santos, 31, a social worker. “It was terrifying.
“You know how you get scared when a car suddenly brakes?” she continued. “This was a hundred times worse.”
Reaching for luggage when the crash occurred, Martin Santos was tossed inside the car and suffered a sprained right ankle. He was on crutches Wednesday evening.
The Santoses had been at Disney World for a long-planned vacation and caught the train in Orlando. They said the train was running late and appeared to be moving at high speeds.
“The train was just flying,” Santos said. “I’m not sure what somebody was doing back there. I couldn’t sleep, it was going so fast.”
Umbrino described the same feeling.
“The train was bouncing so much that’s why I woke up,” he said.
Never on an airplane before Wednesday, Umbrino said flying would probably be his mode of long-distance travel from now on.
“I’m not going to be traveling on trains anymore,” he said. “Today was my first flight, and I liked it.”
Record Staff Writer John Mooney contributed to this article.
Keywords: NEWARK; FLORIDA; RAILROAD; ACCIDENT; SOUTH CAROLINA; DEATH; DISASTER; VICTIM
Caption: PHOTO – RIC FRANCIS / THE RECORD – Richard Umbrino Jr., 20, left, and Arthur Colombino, 19, were among six survivors to arrive at Newark Airport on Wednesday.
Notes: 1 of 2 versions
ID: 17351240 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)
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