TACOMA, Wash. — Three plaintiffs who sued Amtrak over the 2017 train derailment in DuPont will be awarded nearly $17 million combined for their pain and suffering, a jury decided Friday.
Amtrak had previously admitted negligence when its first paid passenger run on a new route from Tacoma to Portland, Oregon, plunged onto Interstate 5.
Three people were killed, and dozens were injured.
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Dale Skyllinstad was a passenger on the Amtrak Cascades train and Blaine Wilmotte was in a truck on southbound I-5 that morning when a passenger car landed on it.
"There is no doubt that he suffered the loss of a normal life," attorney Sean Driscoll said of Skyllinstad.
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Skyllinstad was awarded $7.75 million, $7 million was awarded to Blaine Wilmotte and $2 million was awarded to Wilmotte's wife, Madison Wilmotte.
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U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle said a new trial date should be set for fourth plaintiff Adam Harris' claims because a doctor testified about an examination of Harris that was not disclosed to Amtrak before trial.
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In June, the National Transportation Safety Board published its final report on the crash, with the agency's vice chairman blasting what he described as a "Titanic-like complacency" among those charged with ensuring safe train operations.
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