últimas notícias

This is the second fatal accident involving an Amtrak train and an unprotected rail crossing in as many days.

On Sunday, another three people were killed and two others injured when a train hit a passenger vehicle on the tracks in rural California. All five victims were inside the car.

“It’s a bad crossing,’ said county fire marshal Steve Aubert. ‘It’s just a recipe for disaster unfortunately….

“It’s in the rural part of our district, so it’s a lot more farmland out there. There are no crossing arms, there are no signals at that crossover, and it’s not the first accident that we’ve been to at that same spot.

“Trains are allowed to go up to 80 miles-per-hour along that stretch so it doesn’t take long for a train to catch up right at that crossing there.”

Here’s some more detail on NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, taken from a transcript of her briefing shared with The Independent. The transcript appears to have been automated, so there might be some errors.

“We are requesting information [from] any sort of forward facing or internal facing cameras – that way we can see what was in front of the train or what was going inside on inside the locomotive – as well as any other recorder information that could be provided on the speed of the train at the time of the derailment.

“We’re asking for information on the manifest so we can confirm the number of passengers and the crew members on board,and we’re looking at information on the line and the crossing itself.

“And of course [we’re] talking with Amtrak about train operations. So there is a lot going on, but a lot of our work is going to occur once we get on scene.”

Here’s what we know at midnight Missouri time.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted on Monday to express grief over the horrific train derailment in Missouri.

“My heart goes out to all those affected by today’s horrific train derailment in Missouri,” she said. “While there are no words that can console those grieving lost loved ones, may it bring them comfort that so many Americans pray for them on this tragic day.”

Chuy García, a Congressman who represents a part of Chicago, said his thoughts were “with the families of the passengers who lost their lives, and those injured.”

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said trains won’t be able to run on the track for “a matter of days” while the investigators gather evidence.

She said it was too early to speculate on why the truck was on the tracks.

Dax McDonald, the software engineer from Phoenix, Arizona who survived the derailment, told the Washington Post more details about his experience.

He said he had been travelling from Flagstaff, Arizona to Iowa with his mother and two sisters to meet up with other family for the Fourth of July.

The trio had decided to take a train rather than a plane due to the soaring cost of fuel. They were riding in the second last carriage when everyone was jolted forward with a loud bang.

“The real insanity happened a second after that. You could see it start to tip… I basically looked over to see [my two sisters] careening toward me,” he said. His mother had been in the bathroom and had to climb on suitcases to escape.

Afterwards the carriage was full of broken glass and gravel. One woman hit her head and had a seizure, requiring help from Mr McDonald and others. Then they began to clamber out of the windows, now facing upwards.

Mr McDonald also shed some light on the circumstances of the derailment, saying that he saw two trucks through the train’s windows approaching the rails. “This guy had better slow down,” he thought about one of them.

The Missouri state highway patrol said in a detailed statement that first responders started to arrive at approximately 1.02pm.

“Preliminary investigation indicates an Amtrak passenger train traveling to Chicago, Illinois, struck a dump truck at the railroad crossing on Porche Prairie Avenue,” it said.

“The train had approximately 8 cars, including a baggage car. Seven cars have derailed. There are multiple injuries and we can confirm there are 3 fatalities 2 on the train and 1 in the dump truck.”

“Personnel are currently working to secure the scene. The train had approximately 207 passengers and crew members. All injured and uninjured occupants of the train have been transported from the scene,” it added.

Jason Drinkard, who was travelling with his students and his wife to Chicago in the train that derailed, tells The Independent’s Josh Marcus that it was chaos as people “were bleeding and were banged up”.

“My kids were super stoked about this,” he said. “As they got closer and closer, you could feel the excitement building. We were talking about what restaurants we were gonna go to, what sights we were going to see.”

Then he heard the jolt.

“I looked out the left window and you just see this cloud of brown dust,” he said. “The next thing you know, you feel the car start tipping. Once it went over, it was one of those, you think, I can’t believe this is actually happening. For me everything was just in slow motion until it came to a rest.”

Read the full report.

ABC News has released video footage shared by a person involved in the crash, showing passengers sitting on top of the fallen train.

“Well, looks like we’re gonna be late to Chicago,” says the person filming the video, appearing breathless and possibly distraught. “We hit a truck. Someone was crossing the tracks.”

Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, has addressed the tragedy on Twitter.

“Having relied on Amtrak to cross our state throughout my college years and long after, I remember the ride well.

“My heart goes out to the passengers and all impacted by today’s event, and I extend my thanks to those responding to today’s derailment on the scene and at the hospital.”