Investigators probe Amtrak derailment that killed 3

By AMY BETH HANSON and ANITA SNOW

JOPLIN, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials sent a squad of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board to the tract of an Amtrak derailment successful north-central Montana that killed 3 radical and near 7 hospitalized Sunday, officials said.

The westbound Empire Builder was en way to Seattle from Chicago, with 2 locomotives and 10 cars, erstwhile it near the tracks astir 4 p.m. Saturday adjacent Joplin, a municipality of astir 200.

The bid was carrying astir 141 passengers and 16 unit members and had 2 locomotives and 10 cars, 8 of which derailed, Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams said.

A 14-member squad including investigators and specialists successful railroad signals would look into the origin of the derailment connected a BNSF Railway main way that progressive nary different trains oregon equipment. said NTSB spokesperson Eric Weiss.

The mishap country is astir 150 miles (241 kilometers) northeast of Helena and astir 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Canadian border.

Most of those connected the bid were treated and released for their injuries, but 5 who were much earnestly wounded remained astatine the Benefis Health System infirmary successful Great Falls, Montana, said Sarah Robbin, Liberty County exigency services coordinator. Two were successful the ICU, different spokeswoman said.

Another 2 radical were astatine Logan Health, a infirmary successful Kalispell, Montana, spokeswoman Melody Sharpton said.

Liberty County Sheriff Nick Erickson said the names of the dormant would not beryllium released until relatives are notified.

Robbin said adjacent residents rushed to connection assistance erstwhile the derailment occurred.

“We are truthful fortunate to unrecorded wherever we do, wherever neighbors assistance neighbors,” she said.

Amtrak said it sent exigency unit and different officials to the tract to assistance passengers, employees and section officials. It said institution officials were “deeply saddened” to larn of the deaths.

Because of the derailment, Sunday’s westbound Empire Builder from Chicago volition terminate successful Minneapolis, and the eastbound bid volition originate successful Minneapolis.

Passenger Megan Vandervest told The New York Times she was awakened by the derailment.

“My archetypal thought was that we were derailing because, to beryllium honest, I person anxiousness and I had heard stories astir trains derailing,” said Vandervest, of Minneapolis. “My 2nd thought was that’s crazy. We wouldn’t beryllium derailing. Like, that doesn’t happen.”

She told the Times that the car down hers was tilted, the 1 down that was tipped over, and the 3 cars down that “had wholly fallen disconnected the tracks and were detached from the train.”

Speaking from the Liberty County Senior Center, wherever immoderate passengers were being taken, Vandervest said it felt similar “extreme turbulence connected a plane.”

Residents of communities adjacent the clang tract rapidly mobilized to help.

Chester Councilwoman Rachel Ghekiere said she and others helped astir 50 to 60 passengers who were brought to a school.

“I went to the schoolhouse and assisted with water, food, wiping ungraded disconnected faces,” she said. “They appeared to beryllium tired, shaken but blessed that they were wherever they were. Some looked much disheveled than others, depending wherever they were connected the train.”

A market store successful Chester, astir 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the derailment, and a adjacent spiritual assemblage provided food, she said.

The passengers were taken by buses to hotels successful adjacent Shelby, said Ghekiere, whose hubby works for the section exigency services bureau and was alerted to the crash.

Photos connected societal media showed obstruction cars connected their sides and passengers lasting alongside the tracks, immoderate carrying luggage. The images showed sunny skies, and it appeared the mishap occurred on a consecutive conception of tracks.

Allan Zarembski, manager of the University of Delaware’s Railway Engineering and Safety Program, said helium didn’t privation to speculate but suspected the derailment stemmed from an contented with the bid way oregon equipment, oregon a operation of both.

Railways person “virtually eliminated” large derailments by quality mistake aft the implementation of affirmative bid power nationwide, Zarembski said.

“I would beryllium amazed if this was a human-factor derailment,” Zarembski said.

NTSB findings could instrumentality months, helium added.

Bob Chipkevich, who oversaw railroad clang investigations for respective years astatine the NTSB, said the bureau won’t regularisation retired quality mistake oregon immoderate different imaginable causes for now.

“There are inactive quality show issues examined by NTSB to beryllium definite that radical doing the enactment are qualified and rested and doing it properly,” Chipkevich said.

Chipkevich said way conditions person historically been a important origin of bid accidents. He noted astir of the way that Amtrak uses is owned by freight railroads and it depends connected those companies for information maintenance.

Other caller Amtrak derailments include:

— April 3, 2016: Two attraction workers were struck and killed by an Amtrak bid going much than 100 mph successful Chester, Pennsylvania. The pb motor of the bid derailed.

— March 14, 2016: An Amtrak bid traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed successful southwest Kansas, sending 5 cars disconnected the tracks and injuring astatine slightest 32 people. Investigators concluded that a cattle provender transportation motortruck deed the way and shifted it astatine slightest a ft earlier the derailment.

— Oct. 5, 2015: A rider bid headed from Vermont to Washington, D.C., derailed erstwhile it deed rocks that had fallen onto the way from a ledge. The locomotive and a rider car spilled down an embankment, derailing 3 different cars and injuring 7 people.

— May 12, 2015: Amtrak Train 188 was traveling astatine doubly the 50 mph velocity bounds arsenic it entered a crisp curve successful Philadelphia and derailed. Eight radical were killed and much than 200 were injured erstwhile the locomotive and 4 of the train’s 7 rider cars jumped the tracks. Several cars overturned and ripped apart.

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Snow reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Tom Krisher successful Detroit, Martha Bellisle successful Seattle and Michelle Liu successful Columbia, South Carolina, contributed.