Three people were killed and at least 50 were injured when an Amtrak train carrying 275 people derailed after colliding with a dump truck in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday. Missouri Patrol Lt. Eric Brown told a news conference that at least three people were killed, two of them on the train and one in the truck. Southwest Chief Train 4 was en route from Los Angeles to Chicago when a dump truck struck. The force of the accident caused the train to derail in the city of Menton around 12:42 on Monday noon, according to Amtrak. The company, which confirmed that 275 passengers and 12 crew members were on the intercity train, said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of the deaths of three people, two passengers and the driver of the truck. The incident is the second in two days for Amtrak trains. On Sunday, three people were killed and two others seriously injured when a train carrying 85 passengers hit a vehicle in the state of California.
Basic points
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The farmer warned about the safety of the crossing
A farmer who says he is crossing the same railroad crossing where an Amtrak train crashed Monday in northern Missouri said he issued a Facebook warning earlier this month about his safety. “They knew it was not safe,” Mike Spencer, 64, told the Kansas City Star. “It simply came to our notice then. “It was just a matter of time.” In a video uploaded to Facebook on June 11, Mr. Spencer said the overgrown grass and limited signage were a problem at the crossing, where three people were killed and 50 others injured when an Amtrak train hit a dump truck. Gino Spocchia 28 June 2022 13:01 1656413700
Evidence shows that US progress on rail safety has stalled
Here is an interesting point from John Scott-Railton, an open source information analyst at the non-profit Citizen Lab, who helped identify members of the organized groups that led the invasion of the US Capitol last January. According to him, US government figures show that train and road accidents fell steadily between 192 and around 2010, before being leveled and have remained almost constant so far. “Can anyone explain why progress has stopped in the last decade?” he asks. Of course, this may just be the natural threshold for the number of accidents – a minimum that is difficult to achieve below. Io Dodds28 June 2022 11:55 1656409740
A brief history of Amtrak accidents
Amtrak, a government-backed company that manages most interstate passenger trains in the United States, has suffered a series of deadly derailments over the past decade. In April 2016, two maintenance workers were hit and killed by an Amtrak train traveling over 100 mph in Pennsylvania, causing the lead to derail. Last month, a train traveling on the same route as Monday from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed and injured 32 people when a feed truck fell on the line and pushed the rails out of alignment. Other derailments were caused by fallen rocks on the rail, a tractor-trailer stuck in the tracks, a truck hitting the side of a moving train, a river barge displacing a railway bridge in dense fog and a commuter landing on its outskirts. The worst in recent years occurred in May 2015, when eight people lost their lives and more than 200 were injured because the train had taken a curve with a speed limit of 50 mph at twice the speed. Investigators have blamed the driver for the mistake. Io Dodds28 June 2022 10:49 1656405180
Impressive photos from the spot
Associated Press photographer Charlie Riedel took these snapshots at the scene of the wreck: A worker inspects a derailed Amtrak train near Mendon, Missouri on Monday, June 27, 2022 (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel) A worker inspects the wreckage of a dump truck hit by an Amtrak train near Mendon, Missouri on Monday, June 27, 2022 (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel) Workers inspect a derailed Amtrak train near Mendon, Missouri on Monday, June 27, 2022 (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel) Io Dodds28 June 2022 09:33 1656401040
Second Amtrak collision in two days
This is the second fatal accident involving an Amtrak train and an unprotected railway crossing in so many days. On Sunday, three other people were killed and two others injured when a train struck a passenger car on the lines in rural California. All five victims were in the car. “It’s a bad crossing,” said County Fire Chief Steve Aubert. “It’s just a recipe for disaster unfortunately … “It is located in the rural part of our neighborhood, so there is a lot more farmland out there. There are no crossing arms, no signals on this crossover and it is not the first accident we are in the same spot. “Trains are allowed to travel at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour along this section, so it does not take long for a train to catch up on this very crossing there.” California sheriffs investigate the scene of a collision between an Amtrak train and a passenger vehicle in Brentwood, June 26, 2022 (Jose Carlos Fajardo / Bay Area News Group via AP) Io Dodds28 June 2022 08:24 1656397102
The lead federal security investigator explains the next steps
Here are some more details about NTSB President Jennifer Hometi, taken from a transcript of her briefing to The Independent. The transcript appears to be automated, so there may be some errors. “We are asking for information [from] any kind of front-facing or internal cameras – this way we can see what was in front of the train or what was going on inside the locomotive – as well as any other recording information that could be provided about the train speed on the train. time of derailment. “We are asking for information about the manifesto, in order to confirm the number of passengers and crew members, and we are examining information about the line and the crossing itself. “And of course [we’re] talking to Amtrak about train functions. So a lot is done, but much of our work will be done as soon as we get on stage. ” Io Dodds28 June 2022 07:18 1656392422
What we know so far
Here’s what we know at midnight Missouri.
At least three people were killed and 50 were injured, 13 of whom were taken to hospital.
The Amtrak train hit a dump truck crossing the tracks, to the point where officials believe there were no warning lights or electronically controlled gates.
The train was a Southwest Chief service that made a two-day trip from Los Angeles to Chicago, derailing at about 1:42 pm local time on Monday.
Eight passenger cars and two locomotives were derailed, most of which bounced to their side, forcing passengers to climb over the doors.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a team to investigate the incident and requested camera footage and other data from Amtrak, but the cause of the tragedy is unknown.
One passenger, Dax McDonald, said he remembered seeing two trucks approaching the rails shortly before the accident and thought “this guy better slow down”.
Io Dodds28 June 2022 06:00 1656390655
Pelosi and other officials react to the derailment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on Twitter on Monday expressing her sadness over the horrific train derailment in Missouri. “My heart goes out to all those affected by today’s horrific train derailment in Missouri,” he said. “While there are no words that can comfort those who mourn the loss of loved ones, let them be comforted by the fact that so many Americans are praying for them on this tragic day.” Chuy García, a lawmaker representing part of Chicago, said his thoughts were “with the families of the passengers who lost their lives and the injured.” Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said: “We are saddened to learn of the derailment of the Amtrak train in Chariton County this afternoon. @MoPublicSafety, @MSHP soldiers and other emergency management personnel are responding. “We urge the people of Missouri to pray with us for all those affected.” Shweta Sharma28 June 2022 05:30 1656389423
NTSB researchers say trains will not run for days
National Transportation Safety Board President Jennifer Hometi said trains would not be able to run on the line for “a few days” while investigators were gathering data. He said it was too early to guess why the truck was on the lines. Shweta Sharma28 June 2022 05:10 1656389182
“I thought, this guy would be better at slowing down”
Dax McDonald, a software engineer from Phoenix, Arizona who survived the derailment, told the Washington Post more details about his experience. He said he was traveling from Flagstaff, Arizona to Iowa with his mother and two sisters to meet with the other family on July 4. The trio had decided to take a train instead of a plane due to the rapid cost of fuel. They were riding in the second last carriage when everyone shook forward with a loud bang. “The real madness happened a second later. You could see that it is starting to turn upside down … Basically I looked to see [my two sisters] “looking towards me,” he said. His mother was in the bathroom and had to climb into suitcases to escape. Then the carriage was full of broken glasses and gravel. A woman hit her head and had a seizure, asking for help from Mr. McDonald and others. Then they started climbing out of the windows, now facing up. Mr McDonald also shed some light on the derailment, saying he saw two trucks approach the rails through the train windows. “This guy better slow down,” he thought of one of them. Io Dodds28 June 2022 05:06
