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Railroad operator Amtrak said a train derailed in Montana, USA on Saturday, and many people were injured.
“Amtrak is working with local authorities to transport injured passengers and safely evacuate all other passengers,” the company said in a statement, adding approximately 147 passengers and 13 crew members.
The statement said that the five carriages of the train derailed near Joplin in northern Montana at around 4 pm (2200 GMT).
Videos posted on social media showed people waiting by the railroad tracks with their luggage scattered beside them. Several train cars could be seen leaving the track and at least one car overturned.
The Montana Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator told New York Times More than 1 person was killed and “more than 50 people were injured”. An official in the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office said an Amtrak train between Seattle and Chicago derailed in north-central Montana on Saturday afternoon, killing at least three people.
Dispatcher Starr Taylor told the Associated Press that three people were killed in the derailment accident. She has no more details. Amtrak said in a statement that there were multiple injuries.
American Railroad spokesman Jason Abrams said in a statement that the Empire Builder train derailed near Joplin, a small town with about 200 people, at about 4 pm. The accident site was located approximately 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of Helena and approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
Abrams said there were about 146 passengers and 16 crew members on the train.
He said that the train consisted of two locomotives and 10 carriages, of which 7 carriages were derailed.
Megan Vandervest, a passenger on the train going to Seattle to visit friends, told the New York Times that she was awakened by the derailment.
Vandervest from Minneapolis said: “My first thought was that we derailed. To be honest, I am very anxious. I have heard stories about train derailments.” “My second thought was that it was crazy. Now. We won’t cheat. It’s like, this won’t happen.”
She told The Times that the car behind her was leaning, the car behind had completely overturned, and the three cars behind “completely got off the track and got out of the train.”
In a speech at the Liberty County Senior Center carrying passengers, Van der West said it felt like “extreme turbulence on the plane.”
Abrams added that Amtrak is working with local authorities to transport injured passengers and safely evacuate all other passengers.
Spokesperson Eric Weiss said that the National Transportation Safety Board will send a team of 14 members, including investigators and experts in railway signals and other disciplines, to investigate the accident.
Weiss said that five Amtrak vehicles derailed at around 3:55 pm in mountain summer time, and no other trains or equipment were involved. He said that the train was running on the main track of the BNSF railway at the time.
Photos posted on social media showed that there were a few cars next to them. Passengers are standing by the rails, and some are carrying luggage.
The picture shows the sky is clear, and the accident appears to have occurred on a straight track.
Amtrak said that due to the derailment, the Empire Builder train on the westbound will terminate in Minneapolis on Sunday, and the Empire Builder train on the eastbound will depart from Minneapolis on Sunday.
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