Amtrak Derailment: At Least 50 Injured in Montana, Authorities Say


At least 50 people were injured when an Amtrak train derailed in Montana on Saturday afternoon and the frenzied response by rescuers as they tried to get passengers out of the cars, one official said.

Mont., Hill County disaster and emergency services coordinator officer Amanda Frickel said in an interview that more than one person had died, but authorities have yet to release further details.

He said more than 50 people were injured.

Ms. Frickel said the westbound train derailed just outside Joplin, Mont., about 200 miles north of Helena.

He said rescue teams from six counties responded to the scene and as many as five hospitals were on standby to pick up the injured passengers. He also said that a large number of medical helicopters are also on standby.

“Every county around is helping,” said Sheriff Donna Whitt of Mont Toole County.

Authorities evacuated the survivors to two separate districts and were counting.

“Everyone alive was pulled from the wreckage,” said Ms. Frickel.

Amtrak said there are five cars in a car. empire founder Amtrak said in a statement that the train derailed at roughly 4 p.m. and “injuries have been reported” for about 147 passengers and 13 crew members.

“Amtrak is working with local authorities to transport injured passengers and evacuate all other passengers safely,” the statement said. “Additional details will be provided as they become available.”

Megan Vandervest, who was going to visit a friend in Seattle, took the train from Minneapolis, where she lived, on Friday evening.

He was asleep in the first car when he woke up on Saturday afternoon.

“My first thought was that we were derailed because, to be honest, I was worried and had heard stories about trains derailment,” said Ms. Vandervest. “My second thought was that it was crazy. We weren’t going to stray. Like, that doesn’t happen.”

He soon understood. The car he was in was completely on the tracks.

But the car behind him overturned, the rear completely overturned, and the three cars behind him “completely derailed and left the train,” he said.

Speaking from the Liberty County Senior Center where passengers were taken, Ms. Vandervest said she felt lucky that she and three other people she was with were not injured.

In his car, he said, he felt like “extreme turbulence on the plane.”



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