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Amtrak Derailment: At Least 50 Hurt in Montana
At least three people were killed and 50 others were injured after an Amtrak train derailed in Montana on Saturday afternoon, setting off a frantic response by rescuers who scrambled to extricate passengers from cars, the authorities said.
Amtrak said that eight cars on an Empire Builder train had derailed at about 4 p.m. local time near Joplin, Mont., which is about 200 miles north of Helena. About 141 passengers and 16 crew members were on board, “with injuries reported,” Amtrak said in a statement.
The train consisted of two locomotives and 10 cars.
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“Amtrak is working with the local authorities to transport injured passengers, and safely evacuate all other passengers,” the rail service said in a statement.
The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office said that three people were confirmed dead.
Amanda Frickel, the disaster and emergency services coordinator for Hill County, Mont., said in an interview that “well over” 50 people had been injured. The train was heading west when it derailed, she said.
She said that rescuers from six counties were responding to the scene and that as many as five hospitals were on standby to receive injured passengers. There were also a number of medical helicopters standing by, she said.
“Everybody who is alive has been extricated from the wreck,” Ms. Frickel said.
Officials had evacuated survivors to two separate sites and were doing a head count. Emergency responders planned to put people up in hotels once their medical needs had been seen to.
“Every county around is assisting,” said Sheriff Donna Whitt of Toole County, Mont.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that it was launching a “go-team” to investigate the derailment.
Megan Vandervest, who was going to visit a friend in Seattle, boarded the train on Friday night from Minneapolis, where she lives.
On Saturday afternoon, she was asleep in the first car when she was jolted awake.
“My first thought was that we were derailing because, to be honest, I have anxiety and I had heard stories about trains derailing,” Ms. Vandervest said. “My second thought was that’s crazy. We wouldn’t be derailing. Like, that doesn’t happen.”