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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 19 december 2017

At Press Time:

Amtrak train hurtles off overpass; at least 6 people killed

when the accident hap- had already been whisked
pened. away, but the patients he
“Suddenly there was just a helped appeared to have
jolt, and I didn’t know what open head wounds and
was happening,” Fenelon skull, pelvic or leg fractures,
said. She slammed into the as well as small cuts and
seat area in front of her, neck sprains, he said.
and the windows explod- He called it a miracle that
ed, said Fenelon, who was an infant child he saw from
treated and released from the scene appeared com-
a hospital with a possible pletely unharmed.
concussion. President Donald Trump
Dr. Nathan Selden, a neu- used the deadly derail-
rosurgeon at the Oregon ment to call for more in-
Health & Science University frastructure spending in
in Portland, said he and his a tweet sent about three
son drove through the ac- hours after the accident.
cident scene while travel- He said the wreck shows
ing north to visit Seattle. The “more than ever why our
National Transportation Safety Board Member Bella Dinh-Zarr speaks at a news conference at the doctor asked if he could soon to be submitted infra-
National Transportation Safety Board headquarters in Washington, Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, on an help and was ushered to a structure plan must be ap-
Amtrak train derailment in DuPont, Wash. An Amtrak train derailed south of Seattle, spilling train medical triage tent in the proved quickly.” The acci-
cars onto a busy interstate in an accident that resulted in “multiple fatalities” and numerous inju- highway median. dent happened on a new-
ries, authorities said. The most seriously injured ly completed bypass.q
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
By RACHEL LA CORTE bridge that passed over In-
Associated Press terstate 5 when it derailed.
DUPONT, Wash. (AP) — An Dispatch audio also indi-
Amtrak train making the cated that the engineer
first-ever run along a faster survived with bleeding from
new route hurtled off an the head and both eyes
overpass at an estimated swollen shut.
80 mph Monday south of “I’m still figuring that out.
Seattle and spilled some of We’ve got cars every-
its cars onto the highway where and down onto the
below, killing at least six highway,” he tells the dis-
people, authorities said. patcher, who asks if every-
Seventy-seven passengers one is OK.
and five crew members Aleksander Kristiansen, a
were aboard when the 24-year-old exchange stu-
train derailed. At least 50 dent at the University of
people were hospitalized, Washington from Copen-
more than a dozen with hagen, was going to Port-
critical or serious injuries, land to visit the city for the
authorities said. day.
An official briefed on the in- “I was just coming out of
vestigation told The Associ- the bathroom when the
ated Press that preliminary accident happened. My
signs indicate that Train 501 car just started shaking re-
may have struck something ally, really badly. Things
before going off the track were falling off the shelf.
about 40 miles (64 kilome- Right away, you knew that
ters) south of Seattle. The this was not something mi-
official was not authorized nor,” he said.
to discuss the investigation The back of his train car
publicly and spoke on the was wide open because
condition of anonymity. it had separated from the
The Pierce County Sheriff’s rest of the train, so he and
Office said several vehicles others were able to jump
on Interstate 5 were struck out to safety. He was at
by falling train cars and about the middle of the
multiple motorists were in- train, either the sixth or sev-
jured. No fatalities of mo- enth car, he said, and was
torists were reported. “one of the lucky ones.”
In a radio transmission im- Daniella Fenelon, a
mediately after the acci- 19-year-old from Southern
dent, the conductor can California, was on the train
be heard saying the train taking a cross-country trip
was coming around a cor- as part of her winter break.
ner and was crossing a She said she was asleep