This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/04/us/amtrak-train-derails-outside-of-philadelphia.html

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 7 Version 8
Amtrak Crash Leaves 2 Dead, Officials Say Amtrak Crash Leaves 2 Dead, Officials Say
(about 4 hours later)
CHESTER, Pa. — An Amtrak train derailed southwest of Philadelphia, killing two people and injuring dozens more after striking a railroad backhoe on the tracks early Sunday, the authorities said. CHESTER, Pa. — An Amtrak train, southbound at high speed on Sunday morning, slammed into construction equipment on the tracks near Philadelphia, killing two track workers and wounding more than 30 passengers, the authorities said.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who was briefed by an Amtrak official, told reporters during a news conference that the two people who died were Amtrak workers, a backhoe operator and a supervisor. A team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene on Sunday afternoon to determine why the equipment, a backhoe, was on an active track. The backhoe was struck by Amtrak’s Train 89, known as the Palmetto, which left New York City on schedule about 6 a.m., bound for Savannah, Ga.
Officials said the accident occurred when the lead engine of Amtrak’s Train 89, running from New York City to Savannah, Ga., struck the equipment and came off the tracks shortly before 8 a.m. in Chester, Pa. Passengers said the train was hurtling along with no sign of trouble before the sound of a crash, followed by a shuddering deceleration. The crash left the front of the engine crumpled, its windshield shattered and riders in the front two cars thrown to the floor.
Amtrak said in a statement that more than 30 passengers had been transported to hospitals, though none had life-threatening injuries. The railroad did not return calls seeking comment about the deaths. “The direct impact was big,” said Adriene Hobdy, a passenger. “It was terrible, absolutely terrible. All you felt was boom, boom, boom, boom. Our windows flew out.”
The collision was powerful enough to mangle the front of the engine, shattering its windshield, and jolt many people from their seats. Several witnesses described seeing flames shoot up. The crash disrupted train service between New York City and Wilmington, Del., for much of the day, but Amtrak was working to restore service in time for the Monday morning commute.
“The direct impact was big,” a passenger, Adriene Hobdy, said in a telephone interview. “It was terrible, absolutely terrible. The two Amtrak workers killed were an operator of the backhoe and a supervisor, said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, who said he had been briefed by Anthony Coscia, the chairman of Amtrak. Mr. Coscia declined to comment to a reporter before the safety board investigators had arrived.
“All you felt was boom, boom, boom boom. Our windows flew out. People were trying to get on the floor, trying to walk.” Beatriz Muñozcano, 29, said she and her husband, Alonso Ortiz, were braced together in the third row of the train’s second car. “We were waiting for something to hit us,” she said. “The train was moving from side to side like a roller coaster.”
It was unclear why the maintenance equipment was on a live section of track Sunday morning. Cpl. Steven Byrne of the Chester Police Department said an understanding of how the accident unfolded remained sketchy. Officials said they did not know yet how fast the train was going.
“We’re trying to make way through this mess,” he said. Ms. Muñozcano, who was making a day trip to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, said that after the impact, she saw a window fall onto a woman across the aisle. Dust from the crash was so thick that passengers could not see out of the train, she said.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration were being dispatched to Chester, the agencies said. Passengers who were able to walk were escorted out the back of the train and taken on foot to a nearby church, Trainer United Methodist, where they gathered in a gym and were given food and water. In turn, they were being put on regional buses and taken to Philadelphia, Amtrak officials said.
The train was carrying about 340 passengers and seven crew members, Amtrak said. At the church, Ms. Hobdy, 33, who was given ibuprofen for injuries to her knees, recalled scenes of panic and confusion after the train came to a halt.
Many of those who were able to walk were taken by foot to a nearby church, Trainer United Methodist Church, where they gathered in a gym and were given food and water. In turn, they were being put on regional buses and transported to Philadelphia, Amtrak said. “People started saying: ‘Get up and walk toward the back. Leave your luggage. Get up and walk toward the back.’ So we did,” she said.
Ms. Hobdy, 33, who was given ibuprofen for injuries to her knees, described scenes of panic and confusion after the train came to a halt. Ms. Hobdy said that she did not observe any injuries that appeared serious, but that some people seemed to have back pain, and that others were using clothing to try to stop the flow of blood from cuts.
“People started saying, ‘Get up and walk toward the back, leave your luggage, get up and walk toward the back.’ So we did,” she said. People who live near the tracks bore witness to a more unsettling scene. Tiara Boyd, 27, and her mother, Trena, 54, looked out separate windows of their house and caught the aftermath.
Ms. Hobdy said she did not observe any injuries that appeared serious, but some people seemed to have back pain, and others were using clothing to try to stop the flow of blood from cuts. The women recalled seeing a worker running frantically along the west side of the tracks yelling “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
Amtrak offered an emergency hotline, 800-532-9101, for people with questions about friends and family on the train. Another worker was lying on the ground on the east side of the tracks, Trena Boyd said, his orange hard hat nearby. Trena Boyd said she saw him rise, pick up his helmet and stagger to a metal pole, where he slid to the ground and waited for emergency workers to arrive.
Stephen Gardner, an Amtrak spokesman, said the railroad’s service between New York and Philadelphia remained operational but was suspended between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority also briefly halted its service. Mr. Schumer said that Mr. Coscia, Amtrak’s chairman, told him that the railroad had a rigorous, 20-step procedure for obtaining clearance to place equipment on the tracks. Mr. Schumer said it sounded like the accident could be blamed on human error, possibly a breakdown in communication between the maintenance team and train dispatchers.
New Jersey Transit said that it was continuing to offer its regular Sunday service along the Northeast Corridor. It said it would accept Amtrak tickets between New York and Trenton during the service interruption. An investigator for the safety board, Ryan Frigo, said at a briefing near the scene on Sunday evening that he did not yet know how fast the train had been moving or what efforts the engineer had made to avoid a collision.
Safety concerns about Amtrak flared last year after the derailment of a New York-bound Amtrak train in Philadelphia left eight people dead and more than 200 others injured. Mr. Frigo said his team had obtained the train’s event data recorder and video cameras that face inward and outward from the driver’s cab, which should help answer those questions. He described the object the train hit only as “heavy equipment” and said he could not say why it was on the tracks.
Safety concerns about Amtrak flared last year after the derailment of a New York-bound Amtrak train in Philadelphia left eight people dead and more than 200 others injured. The safety board determined that crash, the deadliest on the Northeast corridor in more than 25 years, was probably an accident caused by speeding. The train was found to have been traveling at 102 miles an hour.
Deaths have been relatively rare, however, with trains derailing about 30 times a year over the past decade, according to government data.Deaths have been relatively rare, however, with trains derailing about 30 times a year over the past decade, according to government data.
Last month, an Amtrak train derailed in southwest Kansas, sending more than 30 passengers to hospitals.Last month, an Amtrak train derailed in southwest Kansas, sending more than 30 passengers to hospitals.