By The Associated Press
MOORPARK, Calif. (AP) — An Amtrak train carrying nearly 200 passengers crashed into a county water truck and derailed Wednesday in Southern California, seriously injuring the truck's driver, authorities said.
Three of the train's seven cars went off the tracks after the collision in Moorpark, according to Ventura County Fire Department Capt. Brian McGrath. The derailed wagons remained upright on tracks adjacent to an orchard and sections of unvegetated land.
[Study Ranks California as Happiest Cities State in Country]
Fourteen people riding the train were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, while the truck driver was taken to a trauma center with a head injury, according to McGrath.
Parts of the demolished Ventura County Public Works truck were strewn around the derailed rail cars. McGrath initially said the truck driver was believed to have exited the vehicle before the crash, but later clarified that the circumstances leading up to the crash were unknown.
An Amtrak passenger is wheeled towards a nearby ambulance on June 28, 2023 in Moorpark, Calif.Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
"No one has spoken to him, so the whole situation is still being investigated," he said.
Mindy Faver sat facing the back of the train after a trip with her mother, Shari Peterson, who was returning from visiting family in Oregon.
"All of a sudden: Zas!" said Faver, describing the impact. Then Faver saw what he later learned was the water truck's reservoir falling by his window.
[California authorities identify the remains of actor Julian Sands]
Most passengers were able to get out of the cars on their own or with the help of first responders, McGrath said. Television news helicopters showed numerous people, many with luggage, swirling in a field as firefighters worked at the scene.
"It could have been a lot worse," Faver told the Ventura County Star.