Driver of SC children’s ride out of hospital

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State officials plan to talk about a miniature train wreck at a park in Spartanburg that killed a 6-year-old boy and injured more than two dozen other people last weekend.

The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation planned to discuss the wreck during a news conference in Columbia on Monday afternoon.

The driver of the train, Matt Conrad, was released from a hospital in Greer on Monday.

Corinth Baptist Church in Gaffney said its pastor, Dwight Easler, and pregnant wife, Tabitha, were hospitalized. Their son Benji died in the crash, and their other sons were injured.

Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt says the ride was inspected by state officials Wednesday and had several test runs before Saturday’s crash. The train was in its first day of operation for the season.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All rights reserved.)