CIMARRON, Kan. — An Amtrak train carrying more than 140 people derailed in rural Kansas early Monday, moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes, an official said.
CIMARRON, Kan. — An Amtrak train carrying more than 140 people derailed in rural Kansas early Monday, moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes, an official said.
At least 32 people were hurt, two of them critically, authorities said.
Hours later, investigators said they were checking whether a vehicle crash may have damaged the track before the accident.
The train known as the Southwest Chief was apparently traveling at about 75 mph when the engineer noticed the deformity in the rail and pulled the brakes, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because that person was not authorized to speak publicly about the federal investigation.
The train, which had 131 passengers and 14 crew members, was making a 43-hour journey from Los Angeles to Chicago when it derailed shortly after midnight along a straight stretch of tracks in flat farmland near Cimarron, a small community about 160 miles west of Wichita. Eight cars derailed, and four of them ended up on their sides.
Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals for treatment. Nearly all of them had been released by late morning, Amtrak said.
The injured included two people who were airlifted to Amarillo, Texas, said Caytie Martin, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Texas Healthcare System. They were listed in critical condition.
Authorities were examining tire tracks leading to the rails. The damage did not appear to be intentional, Gray County sheriff’s Deputy J.G. Sharp said.
Daniel Aiken, of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard screaming as he climbed out of an overturned car. He stopped to smell a fluid that was flowing through the car, fearful that it was fuel, but was reassured when he realized it was water.