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U.S. NEWSTuesday 6 October 2015
Amtrak train derails in Vermont, no critical injuries reported
WILSON RING State officials said a freight
Associated Press
NORTHFIELD, Vermont (AP) train had passed over the
— An Amtrak passenger
train headed from Vermont same tracks Sunday night
to Washington, D.C., on
Monday hit rocks that had with no problems.
fallen onto the track from a
ledge, spilling the locomo- Officials said there’s no
tive and a passenger car
down an embankment, technology that could
derailing three other cars
and injuring seven people, have alerted the crew to
authorities said.
The Vermonter train carry- the slide.
ing 98 passengers and four
crew members derailed at “There is not really anything
around 10:30 a.m. in North-
field, about 20 miles (30 kilo- that’s going to detect this
meters) southwest of Mont-
pelier. Officials with the kind of thing,” said Dan
Federal Railroad Adminis-
tration and National Trans- Delabruere, the rail chief
portation Safety Board are
investigating. of the Vermont Agency of
“This was a freak of nature,”
Vermont Gov. Peter Shum- Transportation.
lin said at a news confer-
ence. Numerous derailments
One of those injured was
airlifted to a New Hamp- around the world have
shire hospital and was be-
ing evaluated The six oth- been caused by debris
ers went to a local hospital
with injuries including neck, on tracks, many linked to
back and shoulder pains
and lightheadedness. heavy rains that trigger
The Federal Railroad Ad-
slides or heavy winds that
knock down trees. In 2010,
a train in Beijing hit mounds
In this aerial photo railroad passenger cars from a derailed Amtrak passenger train are surround- of debris left on the track
ed by foliage, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, in Northfield, Vt. The train, the Vermonter, was headed from
Vermont to Washington, D.C., when it apparently struck rocks that were on the tracks. No life- following a landslide, killing
threatening injuries were reported.
19 people.
(Stefan Hard/Barre-Montpelier Times Argus via AP)
Company officials con-
firmed details of the crash
but did not immediately
ministration said a crew help from a $50 million fed- The stretch of tracks where provide a comment.
member was seriously in- eral recovery grant. the derailment occurred is
jured. Four of those hospital- “There is no reason to be- part of the Genesee and Bob Redmond, of Bay City,
ized were released by Mon- lieve there was any negli- Wyoming Railroad. The re-
day evening, Amtrak said. gence on anyone’s part,” gion near the derailment Michigan, was sitting in
The track where the crash Shumlin said. “We don’t site received 2.5 inches
occurred had been part have all the details, but (6.35 centimeters) on Thurs- the front row of the third
of a $220 million upgrade this track was rebuilt. It was day and Friday, according
of New England Central a state-of-the-art track. to the National Weather car while on a foliage tour
Railroad tracks funded with Ledge slides happen.” Service.
when the train derailed.
He looked out the window
and saw the car that had
been ahead of his was now
alongside him.q
South Carolina flood: Thousands without running water
Continued from Front Tara Saracina stands at her front door in the Ashborough subdivision near Summerville, S.C., after city Columbia, according
many of their neighbors left, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. South Carolina is still struggling with flood wa- to the National Weather
More than 900 people ters due to a slow moving storm system. Service.
were already staying in 25 The 16.6 inches of rain that
emergency shelters and (AP Photo/Mic Smith) fell on Gills Creek near
nearly 40,000 people were downtown Columbia on
without water. On Monday, the rains is part of an unprecedent- drenched several other Sunday was the rainiest
At least 11 weather-relat- moved north into North ed system that dumped states. Sunday was the day in one single spot in
ed deaths — nine in South Carolina and the mid-At- more than a foot of rain wettest day in the history the U.S. in more than 16
Carolina and two in North lantic states. The rainstorm across South Carolina and of South Carolina’s capital years, among weather
Carolina — were blamed stations with more than 50
on the vast rainstorm, with years of record-keeping.
one of the latest com- The last time there was that
ing when a sedan drove much rain in one spot on a
around a barricade and single day in the U.S. was
stalled in rushing waters. Sept. 16, 1999, when 18.3
The driver drowned, but a inches fell on Southport,
woman who was riding in North Carolina, during Hur-
the car managed to climb ricane Floyd.
on top of it and was res- South Carolina Gov. Nikki
cued by a firefighter who Haley has said the deluge
waded into the water. is the kind of storm seen
“She came out the win- only once in 1,000 years.
dow. How she got on top On Monday, she said 550
of the car and stayed there roads and bridges were
like she did with that wa- closed across the state. All
ter— there’s a good Lord,” will have to be checked for
Kershaw County Coroner structural integrity, which
David West said. could take weeks or lon-
ger. q
