Claim: Train was speeding prior to crash

NEWTON, Mass., June 1 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts train was speeding when it drove into another train Wednesday, killing one person and hospitalizing seven, a transportation official says.

A red warning light flashed to alert train driver Terrese Edmonds, 24, to halt and continue moving at 10 mph, National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Kitty Higgins said. Edmonds died in the Wednesday crash, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

Officials said Edmonds' train was traveling 37 mph to 38 mph when it hit another train that was moving only 3 mph to 4 mph.

"The striking train left at a rate of speed higher than what would have been authorized. What we don't know yet is why that happened," Higgins said.

Higgins said officials would try to find out whether Edmonds could see the warning signal when the crash occurred.