At least three people were killed and multiple others injured when a US train derailed Saturday, rail operator Amtrak said, with rescuers rushing to evacuate passengers and crew.
Approximately 141 passengers and 16 crew members were on board when eight train carriages, traveling from Chicago to Seattle, came off the tracks at around 4 pm in northern Montana.
“We are deeply saddened to learn local authorities are now confirming that three people have lost their lives,” the firm said, adding that there were also “reported injuries.”
The three deaths were confirmed by the local Sheriff’s Department, ABC News reported, but authorities did not say how many people were injured. It was not immediately clear what caused the incident.
Footage posted on social media showed people waiting by the tracks, luggage strewn, with train carriages seen listing off the rails and at least one toppled onto its side. Amtrak said it had initiated its “Incident Response Team” and sent emergency personnel to the scene to assist local authorities.
Montana’s Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator Amanda Frickel told the New York Times that “over 50 people had been injured.”
Authorities were not releasing further details for the time being, she said, adding: “Everybody who is alive has been extricated from the wreck.”
The Empire Builder train derailed in a remote area near Joplin, a town near the border with Canada.
The US rail network suffers from chronic underfunding and fatal accidents sometimes occur.
In 2018, two people died in South Carolina when an Amtrak train traveling on the wrong tracks collided with a stationary freight train, in a crash later blamed on safety oversights.
Mine carts once used to transport ore containing gold on show in the village of Rosia Montana, western Romania, on July 12 Top: Volunteers work on the restoration site of a house in the village of Rosia Montana, western Romania, on July 13. Photos: AFP
