Six killed as train plunges on US m-way
AT LEAST six people died and 77 were injured in the US after a high-speed train on its maiden service flew off the tracks and plunged on to a motorway below.
Several vehicles were hit by 13 falling carriages – with one left dangling in mid-air over the road following the 70mph disaster.
The train came off the rails at 7.40am yesterday as it went round a bend over a bridge some 40 miles south of Seattle. Passenger Chris Karnes said: ‘All of a sudden, we felt this rocking and creaking noise, and it felt like we were heading down a hill.
‘The next thing we know, we’re being slammed into the front of our seats, windows are breaking, we stop, and there’s water gushing out of the train. People were screaming.’ Mr Karnes, who escaped by kicking out a window, said he witnessed unconscious and bloodied passengers amid the wreckage. Amtrak, which runs the service, said there were 78 travellers on board and five crew. Two of the injured were in a critical condition last night.
Rescuers used chainsaws to free drivers from their cars, some of which were overturned and sent flying into nearby woods. Motorist Kolter Raudebauga said the train ‘just nose-dived’.
Police called the crash ‘horrific’. Concerns were raised about the speed of the train weeks ago, with one senior official predicting an accident.