Amtrak train flies off rails, kills 3
3 dead as train jumps tracks, falls onto highway
DOZENS HURT IN HIGH-SPEED CRASH NEAR SEATTLE
A HIGH-SPEED Amtrak train on its inaugural rush-hour run derailed outside Seattle on Monday, leaving at least three people dead, dozens of passengers injured and several train cars dangling from an overpass above a busy interstate.
About 70 people were injured, 10 seriously, according to reports. Miraculously, no one on the ground was killed when the Amtrak Cascades line jumped the track in DuPont, Wash., around 7:33 a.m. local time — even though five vehicles and two semi-trucks were hit on the road below.
The passenger train derailed about 50 miles south of Seattle as it was making its first run from that city to Portland, Ore., as part of a faster service that local authorities had warned could be dangerous.
Witnesses said the train was traveling close to 80 mph when it approached the overpass, but officials said it was too early to tell whether speed was a factor.
Officials said 13 cars jumped the track. No fuel was leaking but a hazardous-materials team was called as a precaution.
Several reports said the tracks had not yet installed a positive train control system at the time of the derailment. PTC is a technology meant to stop trains before accidents happen.
About 20 National Transportation Safety Board investigators were dispatched to the scene, said Bella Dinh-Harr, an NTSB board member.
Passenger Chris Karnes, chairman of the advisory board for a local public transit agency, was traveling near the front of the train when he heard rocking and creaking noises before he felt the train going downhill.
“The train was going between 70 or 80 mph. We could tell that because we were passing up traffic on the freeway,” Karnes told CNN.
“We felt a little bit of a jolt and at a certain point we could hear crumpling of the train car, and we were catapulted into the seats in front of us,” Karnes said.
He also said he saw distraught passengers kicking out train windows because the emergency doors failed to work.
Photos showed rail cars crushed and mangled on Interstate 5, which runs north to south through western Washington State.
At least 80 customers and six crew members were on the train as it made its first trip on the Seattle-Portland route, according to Amtrak.
President Trump addressed the derailment during a speech about national security.
“Let me begin by expressing our deepest sympathies and most heartfelt prayers for the victims of the train derailment in Washington State,” Trump said.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with local authorities. It is all the more reason why we must start immediately fixing the infrastructure of the United States.”
Trump also used the deadly crash to plug his infrastructure plan on Twitter.
“The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!” he tweeted.
Riders were reportedly given commemorative lanyards for the ride.
Drivers traveling south on I-5 came to an abrupt halt when they saw the train cars on the freeway.
“We all just tried to stop really quickly to avoid running into each other, to be honest,” eyewitness Greg Mukai told CNN.
Drivers in military gear on their way to work at Joint Base Lewis-McChord rushed out of their cars and began helping people, he added.
The 467-mile Amtrak Cascades line stretches from Vancouver, Canada, to Eugene, Ore.
Washington State’s Depart-
ment of Transportation, its Oregon counterpart and the British Columbia provincial government operate the line. The train was running on a new route intended to shave 10 minutes off the trip between Seattle and Portland.
Amtrak has heavily promoted the new service; Doug Baldwin of the Seattle Seahawks even recorded a commercial about the train providing a fast alternative to traffic on I-5.
“Beat the traffic blitz with Amtrak Cascades,” Baldwin said in the ad.
The line was part of the Washington Department of Transportation’s $800 million rail infrastructure expansion.
It added two more round-trip trains between Seattle and Portland, according to the department, for a total six per day.
People in some communities were concerned the Amtrak Cascades trains were to go through Lakewood, Wash., on a bypass route that let it cruise at 79 mph. Lakewood residents were concerned the fast-moving trains would kill a pedestrian or strike a car.
“Come back when there is that accident, and try to justify not putting in those safety enhancements, or you can go back now and advocate for the money to do it, because this project was never needed and endangers our citizens,” Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson reportedly told state transportation officials earlier this month.