Emergency.Blog

Five Critical, Nine in Serious Condition Following Train Crash

UPDATE: 15:47 PM 11/30/2007

Five Critical, Nine in Serious Condition Following Train Crash

CHICAGO, IL: Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco this afternoon told the Chicago Tribune that of the dozens taken to hospitals from the scene of the train crash, five were reported to be in critical condition and nine were in serious condition. He said another 30 were taken in good condition, meaning they had only "bumps and bruises," and were able to walk off the train on their own.

Orozco said he expects the number of injured to increase to about 50 by day's end. Amtrak officials said that the train's engineer and assistant engineer were among the five employees who were injured. Officials had to use hydraulic cutting tools to get at people trapped inside the locomotive, which had run up on top of the back car of the freight train.

At least 187 passengers and six crew members were on train No. 371, also known as the Pere Marquette, which was due to arrive at Union Station at 10:30 a.m. after leaving Grand Rapids, Mich., at 7:35 a.m. Instead, The slow-moving double-decker passenger train struck the back of a Norfolk Southern freight train that was sitting in a rail yard near 52nd Street and Shields Avenue around 11:30 a.m..

The exact cause of the crash has not been determined and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to send a "go-team" to begin the process of investigating the incident.

Reference: "5 critically injured in Amtrak crash," Chicago Tribune, can be found on the internet at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-amtrak_webnov30,0,1164839.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout