Speed data on the route, data logger information and camera footage from Amtrak will be requested by a “Go Team” of 16 investigators, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Monday.
The derailment occurred when the train, traveling east toward Chicago, collided with a dump truck at an intersection near the north-central Missouri town of Mendon around 12:42 p.m. Monday, according to Amtrak. . Eight of the train cars and two locomotives went off the track, the company said.
Two of the people who died were aboard the train, while the third was in a dump truck that hit the train, said Cpl. Justin Dunn, spokesman for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop B.
At least 50 people were injured in the derailment, Chariton County Ambulance Service Director Eric McKenzie told CNN. Approximately 275 passengers and 12 crew members were on board, Amtrak said in its statement.
The NTSB team will include “specialists in mechanics, signal systems, operations, and survival factors.” those who were involved in the derailment,” Homendy said.
Amtrak officials said in a statement late Monday that they were “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and injuries.
“Amtrak is working with local authorities to make sure that injured people receive medical care and that everyone else receives services and transportation. We are grateful for the support of local authorities who provided assistance and resources for our customers and employees,” he says. the notice. .
Passengers describe how they escaped from overturned train cars
“People were already out of the train, breaking windows,” said Drinkard, who was uninjured. He, his wife and others “began evacuating people from cars as quickly as possible.”
His students were in shock but generally fine, he told KMBC, but he found that passengers in another car were slow to get out and required more first aid.
“I looked at my wife and said, ‘There’s no way we’re going to get out of this without God,'” he said. “I am very grateful that everyone in my group is going home tonight.”
Robert Nightingale, a passenger with a sleeping car, told CNN he was taking a nap when he heard something.
“Everything happened like in slow motion. It started rocking, and rocking, and then blinking, and then all of a sudden all this dust came through my window,” Nightingale said.
He said the train fell on the side his compartment was on.
Nightingale, who was not injured, said he couldn’t get through the window, which was blocked by dirt, so he grabbed his backpack and went out into the hallway. He then moved into a neighboring room where he found a way out and climbed onto the side of the train.
He said some people helped others to the ground where he and others walked to the front of the train. He said it looked like the truck had large rocks in it.
“He hit something important to cause … all the cars to shut down,” he said.
Explorers on board helped those in need
Two Boy Scouts troops from Appleton, Wisconsin, were on the Amtrak train and helping injured people, Scott Armstrong, director of national media for the Boy Scouts of America, told CNN Monday.
The Scouts on the train are believed to be between 14 and 17 years old, Armstrong said, adding that none were injured. Eight adults were with the troops.
“When I opened one of the windows to open up the roof area, they were already there trying to help people get out,” he told KCTV.
“They did a really good job. Very mature for their age. Whatever they’re teaching them in the Scouts, it paid off today.”
The two troops were returning from a stay at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Armstrong said, and the organization is working with them to complete their journey back to Wisconsin.
CNN’s Travis Caldwell, David Williams, Steve Almasy, Amanda Musa, Jalen Beckford, Jennifer Feldman, Melanie Whitley, Andi Babineau, Jamiel Lynch, Rashard Rose, Elise Hammond and Melissa Macaya contributed to this report.
Reference-www.cnn.com