At least 3 killed, over 50 Injured as train derails in US: Report

Joplin (US): At least three people were killed in the US state of Montana on Saturday afternoon when an Amtrak train that runs between Seattle and Chicago derailed in north-central Montana, an official with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office said.

Dispatcher Starr Tyler told The Associated Press that three people died in the derailment. She did not have more details. Amtrak said in a statement that there were multiple injuries.

The Empire Builder train derailed at 4 p.m. near Joplin, in northern Montana a town of about 200, Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said in a statement. The accident scene is about 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of Helena and about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the border with Canada.

The train had about 147 passengers and 13 crew members onboard, Abrams said.

Footage posted on social media showed people waiting by the tracks, luggage strewn next to them, and several train carriages can be seen listing off the rails with at least one toppled onto its side.

Montana's Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator told the New York Times that more than one person had been killed and "well over 50 people had been injured".

She added that teams of rescuers were at the scene and multiple hospitals were on standby but that authorities were not releasing further details for the time being.

Megan Vandervest, a passenger on the train who was going to visit a friend in Seattle, told The New York Times that she was awakened by the derailment.

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. She told the Times that the car behind hers was tilted over, the one behind that was entirely tipped over, and the three cars behind that had completely fallen off the tracks and were detached from the train. Speaking from the Liberty County Senior Center, where passengers were being taken, Vandervest said it felt like extreme turbulence on a plane.

Amtrak was working with the local authorities to transport injured passengers and safely evacuate all other passengers, Abrams added.

Photos posted to social media showed several cars on their sides. Passengers were standing alongside the tracks, some carrying luggage.

The images showed sunny skies, and it appeared the accident occurred along a straight section of tracks.