Amtrak derail hell
3 dead after train hits truck in Mo.
An Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed after colliding with a dump truck in rural Missouri on Monday afternoon, leaving at least three people dead and dozens injured.
The Southwest Chief crashed into a dump truck at a public railroad crossing in Mendon, Mo., 100 miles east of Kansas City, at 1:42 p.m., Amtrak said.
The collision happened at an “uncontrolled crossing” with no lights or crossing arms, said Cpl. Justin Dunn of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The dead included two people inside the train and the truck driver, he said.
Amtrak said 243 passengers and 12 crew members were onboard.
Seven of eight cars derailed, including the one passenger Robert Nightingale was in.
“Everything started to go in slow motion,” he told CNN, describing how the train rocked before crashing on its side. He was able to climb out of the side of the car.
“We all just sat there shocked,” Nightingale said.
Eric McKenzie, the superintendent with Charlton County Ambulance Service, told CNN that there were multiple fatalities and that at least 50 people were injured.
Officials at the press conference couldn’t say how many people were hurt. University of Missouri Health Care tweeted that it was caring for 11 patients as of Monday evening.
Boy Scouts onboard
Sixteen Boy Scouts and eight adults from Appleton, Wis., were among the passengers but escaped serious injury, according to Brian Robb, director of Field Service for the Bay-Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
The group was returning home from a trip to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Some of the scouts rendered aid to the injured passengers, including the driver of the truck, Armstrong said.
Dan Skrypczak, who is the Appleton Troop 73 Scout Master, told The Post in a Monday night interview that his 15-year-old son Eli, a Boy Scout, rendered aid and conforted the truck driver before the man died.
“He’s OK. He’s shook now that the adrenaline has worn off,” Skrypczak said of his son. “When we finally did talk to him, he was pretty upset, he wish he could have done more.”
Students from Pleasant Ridge HS in Easton, Kan., who were headed to a Future Business Leaders of America conference in Chicago, were also aboard, Superintendent Tim Beying told The Star.
Rider Ron Goulet of Flagstaff, Ariz., told The Daily Beast he suspected the collision was a “mass casualty event.”
“Every seat was sold out full, and they were packing people into the observation car because they were so full,” Goulet said as he rode in a bus carrying survivors to a local school for shelter.
“There are plenty of people on back boards being taken by paramedics.”
Photos of the crash scene showed several train cars turned over alongside the tracks, and several people splayed out on the train’s upright side.
The National Transportation Safety Board said a 14-member team would arrive at the scene Tuesday morning to investigate.
The crash marked Amtrak’s second derailment in two days after a train collided with a car in California, killing three people.