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U.S.

Cops: Mini Train Driver in Fatal Crash Admits to Going Too Fast

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    March 19: Rescue workers carry an injured child after a children's train ride at Cleveland Park derailed in Spartanburg, S.C. (AP)

  • Childrens Ride Crashes
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    Rescue workers look over the scene of an accident after a children's train ride at Cleveland Park derailed Saturday, March 19, 2011 in Spartanburg, S.C. (AP/Spartanburg Herald-Journal)

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Police say the man driving a children's train ride that crashed over the weekend, killing a 6-year-old boy, told them he knew he was going too fast.

Police said in a report released Tuesday that Matt Conrad told an officer who accompanied him to the hospital that he knew he had been driving too fast and felt the train leave the tracks.

Six-year-old Benji Easler died Saturday when the train went off its rails. His parents, siblings and more than 20 others were injured.

State officials said Monday the inspector who OK'd the ride for operation was fired after admitting he falsified his report.

State labor officials said the inspector could not have tested the Spartanburg ride because a battery in the train was dead, making it inoperable.