EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Sunday, August 10, 1997 Vol. 1 - 222
AMTRAK TRAIN DERAILS IN ARIZONA
By Paul Anderson, ENN
Correspondent
KINGMAN, ARIZONA (ENN) - More than 150 people were injured when an Amtrak train carrying about 300 passengers over a bridge derailed on Saturday morning when a trestle collapsed, apparently caused by recent flash flooding. In all, 153 people were treated for injuries, 14 victims were admitted to hospitals and at least three people were reported to be in critical condition. About 100 people were treated at Kingman Regional Medical Center, 70 for bruises, sprains and other minor injuries and 30 for more serious injuries.
The train was reportedly traveling at about 90 MPH. It derailed as the third of its four engines crossed the 5-to-7-foot-high bridge, leaving seven passenger cars behind it zigzagged but upright after crossing the bridge. One of the train's double-decker passenger cars was left partly on the track, straddling the 30-foot-wide stream bed in a desolate desert area 13 miles northeast of Kingman and 80 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
A spokesman for the railroad said that a flash flood in the normally dry stream bed washed away the ground around supports for the trestle, causing it to collapse when the train went over. The spokesman said, "We know for sure it was weather-related -- flooding."
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall said at an evening news conference that flash flooding was the likely cause of the derailment. He said the NTSB was investigating all scenarios. "We have not seen anything here to suspect anything other than environmental conditions," he said.
One passenger said that someone had to use a sledgehammer to get the doors open so people could get off the train after the 0500 MDT derailment. Other passengers kicked out an emergency window only to find themselves 12 feet up in the air.
Helicopters, ambulances and school buses carried the passengers to Kingman, a city of 12,000 where most were taken to a shelter at the junior high school.
Because of the heavy rain on Friday, the railroad did send an inspector along the track in a specially rigged truck. The inspector saw no problems when he passed over the trestle about two-and-a-half hours before the derailment.
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1997. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
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