At least three people were killed and several others injured in a train derailment on Saturday near Joplin, a few miles from the Canadian border in the northern United States.
"About 146 passengers and 16 crew members have injuries," said Amtrak, the railway company in a statement, cited by CBS.
Seven of the ten cars on the train were said to have derailed.
"We are deeply saddened to learn that the local authorities are now confirming the death of three people as a result of this accident," the company said.
The accident occurred around 4 p.m. (midnight in France).
According to a passenger traveling in the fourth car, which did not derail, there was a rumble before the car began to "rock violently from side to side" and then derailed, she told CBS.
"Extreme turbulence"
Another passenger told the New York Times how the car behind hers and the one still behind were completely overturned.
She describes the other three behind "completely fallen off the rails and detached from the train."
It evokes a sensation of "extreme turbulence as in an airplane".
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This train, the Empire Builder, connects Chicago to Seattle in 46 hours, the Amtrak website promises.
“The savage Empire Builder takes you on an exciting adventure through the majestic wilderness, in the footsteps of the early pioneers,” the company describes.
Amatrak teams were dispatched to the scene and "are working with local authorities to transport injured passengers and safely evacuate all other passengers."
Montana Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Amanda Frickel, interviewed by the New York Times, "more than 50 people have been injured."
“All the people alive were taken from the carcass” of the train, she said.
My mother-in-law shared these photos with me — the Empire Builder @Amtrak train they were on derailed near Havre, Montana.
@AmtrakAlerts pic.twitter.com/6p7aksKdTF
- Jessica Arp (@newsbyjessica) September 25, 2021
A passenger describes on a local TV how it was necessary to “extract people with the help of volunteers”.
“We had to 'cut out' chairs,” he says.
"There was a woman in the back, whose legs were stuck and it was impossible to get out without using a saw" to cut the chairs, he explains.
The survivors were sent to a room near the scene of the accident.
Video images posted on social media show people waiting near the tracks, luggage strewn next to them.
