by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:07 AM ET, Tue March 10, 2015
On Monday, an Amtrak passenger train crashed into a tractor trailer that was stopped on the tracks in Halifax County, North Carolina, injuring 55 people and causing the locomotive and a baggage car to derail.
According to James Queally and Ryan Parker of The Los Angeles Times, the tractor trailer was en route to New Jersey when it miscalculated a turn and became stuck on the tracks. Local law enforcement was attempting to move traffic so the truck driver could back out of the way of the train, but it was too late and the locomotive went smashing through the trailer of the vehicle.
Deputy secretary of communication for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Mike Charbonneau, told Queally and Parker that there was 213 people on board the train at the time of the accident. According to the reports, there were about five minutes between when the truck became stuck on the track and the arrival of the train.
Raw video was captured of the incident by a woman on the scene, which can be found here. As you can see, the train never had a chance to stop and was only brought to a halt after crashing through the trailer and having the locomotive and a baggage car derailed.
Amtrak issued a statement to The Los Angeles Times that eight crew members were on board the train at the time of the accident, but none were injured. It was also reported that Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration will be investigating the incident.
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