12/18 Amtrak Train Derails Seattle Washington Passenger Cars Dangling Over Interstate 5

https://youtu.be/6XvNfwJkh4c

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Published on Dec 18, 2017


An Amtrak passenger train derailed onto the I-5 freeway outside of Seattle. First responders are treating the incident as a mass casualty. All lanes of the southbound freeway are closed, the Washington State Department of Transportation said.

https://youtu.be/1LCT5GaNqNk

Seattle-Portland Amtrak train derails, fatalities confirmed

70 people were on board Amtrak train 501 on its inaugural run

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In what was described as a “catastrophic derailment,” an Amtrak train from Seattle to Portland derailed on its inaugural run along I-5 and crashed onto the highway below the tracks.
The Pierce County Sheriff confirmed there are fatalities and injuries, but an official said all of the fatalities are connected with the train. There were 70 people on board the train. No motorists have been reported killed.
All southbound lanes of I-5 are blocked near Mounts Road in Pierce County and will remain closed for quite some time, officials said. That will delay traffic all along I-5 into Oregon.
“It looks like this is a catastrophic derailment,” said Ron Pate, the Cascades Rail Corridor Director for WSDOT. “Right now we’re on a fact-finding mission.”
Pate said people were very excited for this new service, which was on its inaugural run.

LIVE COVERAGE FROM THE SCENE

Amtrak Cascades debuted a new route from Seattle-Portland that takes trains on an inland corridor parallel to Interstate 5 through Tacoma, Lakewood, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and DuPont.
All SB lanes of I-5 blocked near Mounts Road in Pierce County.
“It looks like this is a catastrophic derailment,” said Ron Pate, the Cascades Rail Corridor Director for WSDOT. “Right now we’re on a fact-finding mission.
Pate said people were very excited for this new service, which was on its inaugural run.
An official on the scene said the fatalities are “all contained to the train.” He added southbound I-5 in the Seattle area will be closed for quite some time — which will delay traffic all along I-5 into Oregon.
Amtrak said people with questions about their friends and family on Train 501 should call 800.523.9101.

MORE HERE: http://koin.com/2017/12/18/new-amtrak-train-derails-near-tacoma/

No motorists were hurt or killed because they 'trained' their attention on their driving-It is sad, however, that people were killed on that train, and going fast around a tight turn wasn't the smartest thing the engineer could do, he wasn't familiar with the route, and the trainmen on board weren't, either- 80 M.P.H. around turns that tight will always, most likely, end in a derailment- It's a sad shame this happened at all- Tracks for passenger service should be built for high speed, and THESE  weren't- :xmas4: :xmas4: