A new video released shows the Midnight Rider cast and crew having only a few seconds to run off train tracks.
A video released by CSX railroad company shows the cast and crew on the set of Midnight Rider were still rushing off the tracks seconds before a freight train struck and killed camera assistant, Sarah Jones.
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Sarah Jones was only 27 when she was killed while filming the Gregg Allman biopic in February during an unplanned scene in Doctortown, Georgia. The crew members recently revolved say the film never had permission to film on the railroad tracks that would later kill one crew member and injure several others.
20/20 aired the footage, which shows dozens of people including the movie’s stars, William Hurt and Wyatt Russell running off the track and pressing up against the bridge as the train rushed by. The video was captured by a camera attached to the train which was moving at nearly 60 miles an hour.
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Crew members did not have enough time to remove a hospital bed from the tracks and shrapnel from the impact hit Jones, knocking her into the train’s path.
The director of Midnight Rider, Randall Miller and three other people were recently arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass. Police say they knew they didn’t have permission to film on the train tracks but, decided to film there anyway.
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A hairstylist for Midnight Rider explained that they would have 60 seconds to get off the tracks if a train came. The crew had to run towards the the train to get off the bridge, and the hairstylists was unable to get off the bridge in time. She was forced to hold on to the bridge. She would later sustain a very serious arm injury.
Randall Miller’s attorneys argue that they had permission to film on the surrounding land, which he thought included filming on the tracks. According to 20/20, Miller bragged about shooting scenes without permission on his 2013 film CBGB.
Read more: ‘Midnight Rider’ Filmmakers Break Silence: “This Was Not a Crime”
It was also reported that Sarah Jones was previously working on ‘Furious 7‘ but, when Paul Walker died in the car crash, production stopped forcing Jones to work on the independent film ‘Midnight Rider’.
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