Judge Approves $1.6M Settlement in South Carolina Train Crash

A judge has approved a $1.6 million settlement for people injured and killed in the 2011 crash of a children’s train ride at a Spartanburg park.

Authorities say it will be split among the more than two dozen victims, including the family of a 6-year-old Gaffney boy who was killed in the crash.

Twenty-eight people were injured and 6-year-old Benji Easler was killed when a children’s train ride careened off its tracks at a downtown Spartanburg park and landed in a ditch in March 2011.

Benji’s family was awarded $275,000 for the death of their son. Investigators blamed the crash on excessive speed, and a law named for the boy now requires that miniature trains have working speedometers and devices that limit speed.