Amtrak train derails in Vermont

Train 55 – the Vermonter – was traveling from Saint Albans, Vermont, to Washington, D.C., when it derailed after reportedly striking a rock slide on the tracks, Amtrak said.

The train apparently struck rocks that fell from a ledge onto the track near the town of Roxbury at around 10:30 a.m. ET.

Four people were hurt, according to the fire department in Montpelier, Vermont, the city closest to the scene of the accident.

Five of the train’s cars went off the tracks in Northfield, about 10 miles south of the Vermont capital.

One passenger posted a photo to Instagram from inside a derailed vehicle.

Rocks had dropped from a ledge onto the tracks, officials said at a news conference on Monday.

Judy Tartaglia, CEO of Central Vermont Medical Center, said six people were transported to the emergency room for minor injuries including neck, back and shoulder pain, lightheadedness and a wrist injury. “It was a passenger train”, a spokesman for the Vermont state police said.

Redmond says he looked out the window and saw the auto that had been ahead of his was now alongside him. Janice Bradley, another passenger, said the train was “going along and at first it felt like we ran over something”. The 13-hour, 45-minute trip passes through cities including Burlington, Vermont, Springfield, Massachusetts, and New York, with D.C.as the final destination.

“We don’t have all the details, but this track was rebuilt, it was state-of-the-art track”, he said. “It could’ve been a whole lot worse, that’s for sure”.

It is not immediately clear how many passengers are on board the train.

“It’s a huge wreck up there”, she said.

At least several dozen passengers were taken away from the accident on school buses. Two other passenger cars are completely off of the tracks; a third auto is sitting diagonally across the tracks; while the remaining cars are safely on the tracks.

The person transported to a hospital by helicopter was talking, according to Vermont State Police spokesman Scott Waterman.