Walt Disney World monorail crash kills driver

A Walt Disney World monorail driver was killed early this morning when two trains collided as visitors were leaving the theme park, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Stunned employees and park visitors tried to reach Austin Wuennenberg, the 21-year -old monorail driver who was trapped in the crushed cockpit, local news reports said. (Watch eyewitness video of the crash scene from Orlando TV station WKMG.)

Wuennenberg was pronounced dead at the scene, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The monorail trains collided around 2 a.m. Sunday at the Transportation and Ticket Center, located at the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom, according to Walt Disney World spokesman Mike Griffin.

The driver of the other train, who was reported to have escaped serious harm, was taken to a hospital as a precaution. Several Disney World visitors who were on board at the time of the crash were evaluated by paramedics at the scene, the newspaper reported.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. The theme park opened on schedule this morning, but the monorail remained out of service as the investigation and cleanup continued.

“We will continue to work closely with law enforcement to determine what happened and the appropriate next steps,” Griffin said.

The Disney World monorail is outfitted with an automated checkpoint safety system designed to prevent crashes, according to a former monorail driver interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Photo: Monorail at Walt Disney World. Credit: Associated Press

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 4:14 pm by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Epcot at Walt Disney World, Family & Kids, Florida, Magic Kingdom, Southern States, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.