Page 5 - Aruba Today
P. 5
U.S. NEWS A5
Tuesday 15 March 2016
Amtrak train derails in Kansas, injuring at least 32
ROXANA HEGEMAN Weener said there was A railroad worker walks past one of the Amtrak cars that derailed west of Dodge City, Kansas
MICHAEL BALSAMO some initial indication of a early Monday, March 14, 2016, injuring multiple people who were transferred to hospitals in Gar-
Associated Press “misalignment” on the rail. den City and Dodge City, according to a release from Amtrak. The Amtrak train carrying 131 pas-
CIMARRON, Kan. (AP) — An But it was unclear what sengers derailed in rural Kansas moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail
Amtrak train carrying more that was or what caused and applied the emergency brakes, an official said.
than 140 people derailed in it. He said the engineer
rural Kansas early Monday, was vigilant and noticed (Oliver Morrison /The Wichita Eagle via AP)
moments after an engineer the variation on the track,
noticed a significant bend causing him to brake. had been released. vehicle from leaving the by a shallow depression.
in a rail and applied the Federal officials also The tracks run along High- roadway and driving near Authorities were examining
emergency brakes, author- planned to review record- way 50, which has no bar- or onto the tracks. The road tire tracks leading to the
ities said. At least 32 people ed data from the train. rier that would prevent a and tracks are separated rails.
were hurt, two of them criti- The train, which had 131
cally, authorities said. passengers and 14 crew
A federal transportation members, was making a
official said the investiga- 43-hour journey from Los
tion would focus on the Angeles to Chicago when
condition of the rails. Local it derailed shortly after
authorities said they were midnight along a straight
checking whether a vehi- stretch of tracks in flat farm-
cle crash may have dam- land near Cimarron, a small
aged the track before the community about 160 miles
accident. west of Wichita. Eight cars
The engineer of the train derailed, and four of them
known as the Southwest ended up on their sides.
Chief noticed the deformi- Thirty-two people were
ty in the rail and pulled the taken to hospitals for treat-
brakes, said Earl Weener of ment. Four of them re-
the National Transportation mained hospitalized Mon-
Safety Board. He put the day evening, including two
train’s speed at the normal people who were airlifted
limit of 60 mph. to Amarillo, Texas. The rest
