My question might be: "What was a backhoe doing on Railroad Tracks? Did someone get drunk and hot wire it and take it for a joy ride or was this some kind of criminal or terrorist act?"
begin quote from:
Amtrak train collides with a backhoe south of Philadelphia, leaving two dead; travel suspended on Northeast Corridor
| New York Daily News | - |
Two
people died after an Amtrak train struck a backhoe that was on the
tracks south of Philadelphia Sunday. The train struck the construction
vehicle around 8 a.m.
Amtrak train collides with a backhoe south of Philadelphia, leaving two dead; travel suspended on Northeast Corridor
BY Laura Bult, Dan Good
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Sunday, April 3, 2016, 10:50 AM
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Raw: Engine of Amtrak Train Derails in Pa. Crash
AP
The train struck the construction vehicle around 8 a.m. in Chester, Pa. and the impact caused the train's lead engine to derail.
Two people who were outside of the train and near or on the backhoe were reportedly killed, according to Ruth Miller, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management.
Roughly 35 people who were on board the train were injured and were taken to the local Trainer United Methodist church by EMS units and later to the hospital, according to the Chester Fire Commissioner Travis Thomas.
None of the passengers' injuries were life-threatening.
The Palmetto train 89 had left New York City early Sunday and was bound for Savannah, Ga., carrying 341 passengers and seven crew members, according to a statement from Amtrak.
HANDOUT/REUTERS Damage is seen following a crash involving an Amtrak passenger train near Chester, Pa.
"Everything was going smoothly and we got right outside Philadelphia, we were in Wilmington and the train was rumbling and then there was a bunch of dust," Linton Holmes, 15, a North Carolina native who was traveling alone from Philadelphia, told reporters on a FOX 29 News live feed.
The train cars went silent and then everyone was directed to evacuate.
"There was some people who were pretty bloody because it was an explosion, then it was a fire and the windows bursted out and some people were cut up, but it was just minor injuries," Holmes said. "It was crazy, nothing like this ever happened. I was speechless."
Evacuated passengers from the derailed train who weren't injured were rerouted back to Philadelphia.
Mark Makela/Getty Images The front of the Amtrak train was damaged in the crash.
"I watched it all from my second floor window. The sirens got really close and loud that it made me jump," Nichole Stock, 32, told the Daily News outside her home. "It's scary, to think the train could have derailed into the houses here."
"It looked like there were a lot of injuries. They were being taken off the train with their luggage. But everyone looked calm. Only the front car of the train derailed. It wasn't chaotic. Everyone got out, one-by-one," Stock said.
Travel was momentarily suspended on the Northeast Corridor between New York City and Philadelphia following the incident, causing delays for Sunday travelers.
Stephen Gardner, the executive vice president for Amtrak, said that the National Transportation Safety Board was en route to the scene and would be handling the investigation into the cause of the crash.
Concerned family members and friends of passengers who were on board the train were advised to call a special Amtrak hotline for information at 800-523-9101.
The accident comes nearly a year after another Amtrak accident near Philadelphia claimed the lives of eight people and injured over 200 on May 12, 2015 when the speeding train derailed going around curved tracks.
The investigation into the cause of last year's crash involving engineer Brandon Bastion is still inconclusive.
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