Multiple’ deaths as train derails over Washington state highway
DuPont, United States, (MILLAT ONLINE):An Amtrak passenger train traveling on a new route for the first time derailed Monday in Washington state, killing “multiple” people as cars plunged off a bridge onto a busy highway at the height of morning rush hour, officials said.
The train, which was carrying 78 passengers and five crew, derailed in DuPont about halfway between Tacoma and the state capital Olympia on a curve that passes over busy Interstate 5 at about 7:40 am (1540 GMT).
Pictures from the scene showed one Amtrak train car overturned and crushed on the interstate highway and others dangling from the overpass.
Several other carriages of the 14-car train also ended up on the highway, shutting down a key section of the busy artery that connects the greater Seattle metropolitan area to Olympia.
Officials gave no reason for the derailment of southbound Amtrak train 501, the inaugural run of a new service that promised faster connections between Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
Local officials had warned only weeks ago that the track still might not be safe enough to handle trains at higher speeds.
Officials confirmed several people had died in the crash, but declined through the day to provide precise numbers.
“There are multiple fatalities,” said Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s pretty horrific,” he said.
Local television KOMO News reported six dead and several people in critical condition among the dozens sent to local hospitals for treatment.
Troyer said that it was too unsafe to check some of the cars but it was possible there were more bodies in them.
“We just don’t know until they can shore up those train cars and get in there and search them,” he said.
None of the people in vehicles travelling on the highway below the train were killed, according to Troyer.
The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of experts to investigate the incident.