An Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia Sunday morning, leaving two Amtrak employees dead and nearly three dozen passengers hurt as the lead engine derailed as the train passed through a fireball.
Shortly after 8 a.m., passengers aboard Amtrak’s Palmetto Train 89 felt a jolt as the train struck a backhoe on the tracks between Booth Street and Highland Avenue in Chester, Pennsylvania — not far from the Highland Avenue Station, officials said.
Two Amtrak employees, with more than 40 years of service between them, died and at least one person was injured, investigators said.
The train, which was headed from New York to Savannah, Georgia, had 341 passengers and seven crew members on board at the time, Amtrak said. At least 31 passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, said Amtrak.
Passengers told NBC10’s Randy Gyllenhaal they heard a bang, felt a jolt and then saw a plume of smoke and a fireball as the train proceeded past the point of impact. The force of the wreck caused the train engine to derail, Amtrak said.
Linton Holmes, a 15-year-old from Wilson, North Carolina, was near the back of train after a visit with his mother in Sicklerville, New Jersey. “The train was like rumbling… there was dust everywhere.”
After the crash, passengers were told to stay on the train until the rails could be deactivated. Holmes said passengers sat in silence as they waited to get off the train.
Holmes said some people were cut up and he saw some people bloodied.
Local emergency responders on the scene assessed passengers. Concerned family members and friends of passengers who were on board the train were advised to call 1-800-523-9101 for information.
The nearby Trainer United Methodist Church at W 9th and Langley streets served as a staging scene. Emergency crews could be seen loading people on to waiting SEPTA buses to take them away from the scene.
SEPTA suspended trains along the Wilmington/Newark Line until further notice and Amtrak suspended all Northeast Corridor trains between New York City and Philadelphia until at least early afternoon while keeping Keystone Service between New York and Harrisburg going.
All Amtrak service is suspended between New York City and Philadelphia at this time. Updates available at https://t.co/0oilXAZsFc.
— Amtrak (@Amtrak) April 3, 2016
NJ Transit said it would accept Amtrak tickets for travelers going between New York and Trenton during the suspension. And SEPTA would honor Amtrak tickets for service on the Paoli/Thorndale Line to Trenton.
Unharmed passengers told NBC10 that Amtrak was helping them with rental cars so they could continue on their journey south.
No word yet on when the tracks could reopen.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the backhoe was on the tracks. Federal Railroad Administration investigators joined local and Amtrak investigators in the search for clues Sunday.
Read more: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/breaking/Chester-Train-Tracks-Crash-Equipment-374406561.html#ixzz44mPtCLf8
Follow us: @nbcphiladelphia on Twitter | nbcphiladelphia on Facebook
These ‘accident’ incidences always smell/stink/don’t make common sense as the story is told/promulgated. By the time this story is put out on the ‘main stream media’ =well deserved name of lie stream media, many FACTS would have already been gathered/know and determined. For instance/example. When whomever drove this back hoe onto the tracks, what happened? Did it just shut off/stall 1 minute before the arrival of the train? The majority of us today carry cell phones. Did the driver call 911 to notify the ‘authorities’ of the impending danger to a train that might hit this back hoe? We know the NWO like to put cameras everywhere. Why not at railroad crossings for this type of situation? I could go on but, todays stories like this are bereft of the details which should have been gathered and available to the public. This story doesn’t state how many cars there were. It shows a picture of what appears to be a blackened window hole in the car next to the caboose which is related to the boy who said their was smoke in his/apparently this car! If the front engine car hit the backhoe, exactly what happened to cause a fire in the car at the rear? AND, was there no adult in that car that could’ve been interviewed? For me, until this elite, terrorist regime, is removed from the power positions they now hold and wield at the orders from these criminals, this type of nonsense will continue to steal, kill and destroy. This is terrorism perpetrated by these fascist satanists who need to orchestrate these type of incidents to keep their slaves on tinder hooks. Their time is coming when justice will be served to them on a not so silver platter. This is why some of us proclaim-Death to the NWO.
A lot of dumb , unnecessary and ignorant s£it lately .. Most of which I feel with today’s technology and ability to apply it to almost anything , things like this should have been “engineered” out .. Or at least a very limited chance of this type of accident
It’s no wonder it would give critical thinkers reason to suspect any story in MSM these days
Main stream media these days is more about distraction and misdirections than any truth and real reporting on real events , let alone fabricated psy OP’s
Authority to be near or on the track on the Eastern Railroads must be similar to the Western Railroads.
The authority to be on the track out west on one major railroad is ‘Track and Time’ or ‘Form “B”‘. With Track and Time, you own that piece of track until you give it up. Signals are set to protect the worker. A ‘Form “B”‘ is set up with flags and notices to the trains. When a train wants to pass a flag, the Train talks to the Employee in charge of the ‘Form “B”‘. The Employee in charge makes sure everyone in clear of the tracks before allowing the train to pass the red flags. All radio communications is recorded for later review. Normal train traffic is controlled by a dispatcher who is in radio contact with the trains and the traffic is also controlled by the signals. There are 3 ways this collision could have happened.
1) The train passed a red signal or flag.
2) The back hoe was foul of the track without permission.
3) This was some outside operator not involved with the track repair crossing on his own.
We will have to see when more information becomes available.