/rueziffra.com/Allan Ziffra Injury Attorney/ 07/06/2009
Orlando, FL –A train crash on Walt Disney World’s iconic monorail system left one dead and seven others injured on July 4th. A Kissimmee area college student, who was operating the train at the time of the accident, was killed when the monorail train collided with another Disney monorail train, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel.

The Stetson University student, Austin Wuennenberg, 21, of Deland has been an employee of Disney for three years, but only began piloting the monorail train in October.  The tragic accident occurred during one of the monorail’s last runs of the day, on the busy Fourth of July holiday, at Disney’s Transportation and Ticket Center; the main boarding station for Disney World visitors.

According to the Orange County Sheriffs Office, Wuennenberg was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The driver of the other monorail train was transported by Orlando area emergency medical services (EMS) crews to the Florida Hospital Celebration for treatment of his non-life threatening injuries. Sheriff reports indicate six other passengers were injured and were treated and released by responding paramedics.

According to Disney officials it is unclear what caused the fatal train crash. Disney reports they have a safety system in place, which is designed to prevent collisions. The system, MAPO, or also known as Mary Poppins is supposed to stop trains automatically if they come too close to one another. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) http://www.osha.gov are currently investigating the tragic monorail collision.
Disney representatives report this was the first fatal accident involving the Florida world-famous theme park’s monorail system in their 38-year history.

Media Contact: Florida personal injury law firm Rue & Ziffra, litigating personal injury lawsuits.  www.rueziffra.com 1-888-246-8613.