By Josh Margolis
JOPLIN, Mont. (NMB) – Three people have died as a result of an Amtrak derailment on Saturday afternoon a few miles west of Joplin.
The accident occurred just before 4pm. The Empire Builder, which consisted of two locomotives and 10 cars, was westbound with approximately 146 passengers and 13 crew members. Eight train cars derailed, several of which were on their side.
“We had first responders from all over the Hi-Line come together,” Governor Greg Gianforte said on Sunday afternoon. “Ambulance crews, EMTs, even strangers transporting passengers to airports as far away as Kalispell on a volunteer basis. This is Montanans helping Montanans, and it makes me so proud to be the Governor of this state.”
Hill County DES Coordinator Amanda Frickel was one of those first responders and says equipment used in the response included excavators, the ‘jaws of life,’ and chainsaws. She adds that the fast response of various crews saved lives.
“We did send out quite a few critical people. They were mercy flown or ambulanced. And I do believe that yes, if they had to wait there, if our weather would have been worse, if this would have been January, if we would have had another (September) storm even…it would have been a lot worse for us to try and get people out, and we probably would’ve seen a little bit more of an extent on injuries and people having to deal with that longer than they should have.”
All passengers have been accounted for and are no longer in Chester. In the hours following the crash, passengers were sheltered at CJI High School and the Liberty County Senior Center while arrangements were made. The majority of the passengers were bussed to Shelby on Saturday night and spent the night in a hotel. Amtrak says they are ensuring passengers reach their destination.
While the passengers were in Chester, the community stepped up by donating hotel rooms, food, water and other supplies.
The injured passengers were transported to hospitals across the Hi-Line, with injuries ranging from minor to critical. By Sunday, there were only five people remaining in the hospital. They were all at Benefis in Great Falls and were in stable condition.
Amtrak says their incident response team was initiated and they sent emergency personnel and Amtrak leadership to the scene to help support passengers, employees, and their families with their needs.
The track is owned and operated by BNSF.
“BNSF has been on site coordinating with local officials, the federal railroad association, and the National Transportation Safety Board shortly after this incident,” Matt Jones of BNSF said at Sunday’s press conference. “It’s an active investigation and I’m not able to speculate at this time on what the cause of the incident is while it’s under investigation.”
Jones said the track was last inspected on September 23rd, but offered no additional details.
The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. They are expected to hold a press conference on Monday afternoon to provide an update.
Empire Builder Service in Montana is postponed until further notice, and rail traffic cannot pass through the area.
“There’s two things that have to happen to get these tracks open again so our farmers can get their grain to market, which is the primary concern along the Hi-Line,” Gianforte told New Media Broadcasters after the press conference. “We have to complete the investigation to find out what happened, and then the tracks have to be repaired. BNSF has already staged the gravel, the tracks, the repair crews. We just need the green light from NTSB. They’ve gotta be thorough, they’ve gotta do a complete job. BNSF confirmed that they’ll be able to get the tracks back in operation in under a day once they get the clear from NTSB.”
1 1/2 miles west of Joplin on Saturday afternoon. Photo: Josh Margolis
This story has been updated
