At least three people killed and 72 injured after a train derailed onto a motorway in Washington state on Monday morning.
Officials say many of the injured are reported to be in a critical condition. Seven vehicles, including two lorries, were hit on the I-5 highway down the track but no one in the vehicles died.
Amtrak released a statement after the accident which reads:
We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries. There is a thorough investigation underway to determine what happened
The statement continues,
The investigation will be conducted by [the National Transportation Safety Board], and we will cooperate fully with all authorities. At this time, we will not speculate about the cause, and we encourage others not to speculate as well.
The train was traveling south on a new high-speed rail route for the first time on Monday morning while the carriage derailed at around 7:30 am. The federal investigators confirmed late Monday that the train was traveling at 80 mph on a 30 mph stretch of track.
National Transportation Safety Board member Bella Dinh-Zarr told in a late-night talk with reporters, the Train 501 of Amtrak's Cascades service from Seattle headed to Portland, Oregon was carrying 85 people including three crew and two service personnel.
The Washington State Police spokesperson Dan Hall said 72 people were hospitalized after the accident. He added it was unclear whether the dead were pa s sengers or crew
