Amtrak train derails near Roxbury, Vermont
NORTHFIELD, Vt. - An Amtrak train carrying 98 passengers and four crew members has derailed in central Vermont near the town of Roxbury, leading to multiple injuries.
At least seven people in total were believed injured, one seriously, in the crash, officials said. Amtrak said a crew member was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries but four other people were released by Monday evening.
One of the injured people was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and was being evaluated in the emergency room, spokesman Rick Adams said.
A hospital executive said Monday afternoon six people are in the emergency room after being injured in the derailment. Central Vermont Medical Center CEO Judy Tartaglia said the patients have injuries that are not life-threatening.
Injuries include neck, back and shoulder pain, lightheadedness and a wrist injury. She said she doesn't expect more patients.The Federal Railroad Administration said Monday a crew member was seriously injured.
A massive emergency response is underway.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, officials said rocks from a ledge fell onto the tracks.
CBS Correspondent Kris Van Cleave reported that Vermont governor Peter Shumlin said this area of track was recently rebuilt and state of the art - but rockslides are not uncommon.
"There is no reason to believe there was any negligence on anyone's part," Shumlin said. "This was a freak of nature."
The track where the crash occurred had been part of a $220 million upgrade of New England Central Railroad tracks funded with help from a $50 million federal recovery grant. In early 2013, after the upgrade had been completed, the speed limit in the area was increased from 55 to 59 mph.
One locomotive and one passenger car went over an embankment, and three other cars left the track but remained upright.
At least several dozen passengers were loaded onto school buses to be taken to an armory at nearby Norwich University.
Matthew Lehner, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said it was aware of the derailment and had sent investigators to the scene.
Amtrak acknowledged on Twitter the derailment of "Train 55," which is known as The Vermonter, a train packaged as ferrying skiers and other vacationers to Vermont. According to the Amtrak website, the 13-hour, 45-minute daily trip begins in St. Albans in northern Vermont. The train is supposed to pass through Burlington, Vermont, Springfield, Massachusetts, and New York before arriving in D.C.
Passengers aboard the train said say several people helped others get out of the train.
Bob Redmond, of Bay City, Michigan, was taking a foliage tour and sitting in the front row of the third car when the train derailed Monday morning.
Redmond said he looked out the window and saw the car that had been ahead of his was now alongside him. Redmond said the cars started tipping and "down we went."
Bay City resident Tracy Zaplitny said she and other passengers broke a window to get out. Passengers helped others out after the crash. Redmond got out of his car first, and he and others started helping people off the train.
The last major Amtrak train derailment was in Philadelphia in July, when eight people died and about 200 more were injured. The cause of that crash is still under investigation.
Engineer Brandon Bostian has been cleared for using his phone ahead of the crash. Bostian suffered a head injury in the crash, and his attorney has said the engineer doesn't remember anything after the train pulled out of Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, the last stop before the derailment.
The clearing of the track was to begin immediately, though officials did not know how long it would take before the section is reopened. Amtrak, meanwhile, is planning to bus passengers booked on the Vermonter to and from Springfield, Massachusetts.