Injured passenger files lawsuit after SEPTA collision. Annie McCormick reports during Action News at 6 p.m. on August 23, 2017
By Annie McCormick
CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- The first lawsuit has been filed on behalf of one of the victims in Tuesday morning's train crash.
Two law firms are representing this one passenger, they are anticipating more clients will seek representation.
Attorney Tom Kline said, "He woke up, found himself on the ground, gasping for air in pain."
Kline is describing injuries his client Derrell Robbson, a 26-year-old West Philadelphia resident suffered from Tuesday morning's train crash.
'He hit his head, he was knocked unconscious. He recalls losing consciousness and regaining it moments after collision," Kline said.
Robbson was a passenger on the Norristown high speed line, train 155, he picked it up near Rosemont College where he works.
Thirty-three people were injured. Thirty-two of them passengers and the train operator.
It was just after midnight, the train was approaching the 69th street transportation center when it crashed into an empty, stationary train.
It's if this was operator error or mechanical malfunction. The NTSB is investigating.
In the lawsuit filed, suing septa Robbson says he witnessed the SEPTA engineer rushing and he also says the operator overshot two stops before the crash.
The lawsuit is asking for a minimum of fifty thousand dollars in damages.
Attorneys from both firms are familiar with high profile lawsuits against public transportation entities, including the Amtrak 188 crash and prior cases against SEPTA.
They say this lawsuit is also tackling overall safety issues with public transportation including the implementation of installation of Positive Train Control.
Attorney Robert Mongeluzzi said, "We take the Amtrak train derailment, for example, if there had been Automatic Train Control that would've slowed the train down so it didn't derail, but it wouldn't have prevented it from smashing into a stationary railroad car on the track. Positive Train Control would have done that."