(Moorpark) An Amtrak train carrying nearly 200 passengers hit a tanker truck and derailed in southern California on Wednesday, seriously injuring the driver of the truck.
Three of the train’s seven cars rolled off the tracks after the collision at Moorpark, said Capt. Brian McGrath of the Ventura County Fire Department. Fourteen people on the train were taken to hospital with minor injuries, while the truck driver was taken to a trauma center with head trauma, McGrath said.
Parts of the Ventura County Public Works Department truck were strewn all around the derailed train cars. Mr McGrath first said the driver of the lorry got out of the vehicle before the crash, but later clarified that the circumstances leading up to the collision were not known.
PHOTO DEAN MUSGROVE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“No one has spoken to him, and the investigation is continuing,” he said.
The derailed cars remained upright on the tracks adjacent to an orchard and land.
Most passengers were able to get off the carriages on their own or with the help of rescuers, McGrath said. Television helicopters showed scores of people, many carrying luggage, busying themselves in a field as firefighters worked on the scene.
The train was traveling to Los Angeles from Seattle when it hit a water tanker blocking the tracks at 11:15 a.m., Amtrak said in a statement.
PHOTO DEAN MUSGROVE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fourteen people on board the train were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
“About 198 passengers and 13 crew members were evacuated from the train, with no serious injuries reported,” the statement said. Amtrak is working with its customers to arrange further travel. Amtrak, in coordination with local authorities, is conducting a thorough investigation.”
Crews were able to quickly extinguish a small fire, McGrath said.
Moorpark is a town of some 35,000 people located approximately 80 kilometers northwest of downtown Los Angeles.