A train derailment in north-central Montana on Saturday afternoon has left at least three people dead and 50 people injured, according to authorities.
The Amtrak train runs between Seattle and Chicago when several cars toppled over, falling onto their sides.
An Amtrak spokesman, Jared Abrams, shared that at about 4 p.m. near Joplin, the westbound Empire Builder train derailed in the town of about 200, the Guardian reported.
The train was carrying 141 passengers and 16 crew members when it derailed, Abrams reported. The train had two locomotives and 10 cars, eight of which derailed, he said.
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“We are deeply saddened to learn local authorities are now confirming that three people have lost their lives as a result of this accident,” Abrams said.
The accident was 30 miles from the Canadian border and 150 miles northeast of the state’s capital Helena. Starr Tyler, the Liberty County sheriff’s dispatcher, added that three people died and that there was no more information at this point.
One passenger, Megan Vandervest, shared with the New York Times that she was sleeping when the derailment happened.
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“My first thought was that we were derailing because, to be honest, I have anxiety, and I had heard stories about trains derailing,” said Vandervest, who is from Minneapolis. “My second thought was that’s crazy. We wouldn’t be derailing. Like, that doesn’t happen.”
Vandervest reported seeing the car behind hers tilted and the one behind hers on its side. She added that the three cars behind that “had completely fallen off the tracks and were detached from the train.”
She went on to tell the Times that the incident had felt like “extreme turbulence on a plane.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a 14-member team to investigate the crash, spokesman Eric Weiss said, the Guardian reported.
Weiss said no other trains or equipment were involved in the crash while it was traveling on the BNSF Railway main track.
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Nearby communities also made the way to the crash site to help the train goers. Rachel Ghekiere, a local councilwoman, shared that others helped 50 to 60 passengers who were brought to a local school, the Guardian reported.
“I went to the school and assisted with water, food, wiping dirt off faces,” she said. “They appeared to be tired, shaken but happy that they were where they were. Some looked more disheveled than others, depending where they were on the train.”
Amtrak shared that the derailment will cause the Sunday westbound Empire Builder to terminate in Minneapolis, and the Sunday eastbound Empire Builder will originate in Minneapolis.