[1] Following a recommendation to maintain a record of onboard passenger numbers, Amtrak now records passenger lists electronically. Victims of Amtrak Accident Near Mobile. But many others forgot about the disaster as other tragedies occurred, one after the other, through the years. More than 40 people were killed early today when part of an Amtrak train hurtled off a 12-foot-high trestle into a bayou and caught fire, trapping sleeping passengers in black water up to 30 feet deep. Did you radio for help? Dopheide shouted. Rochelle Cook . Most survivors suffered only minor injuries; seven people were admitted to hospitals. The three locomotives and the first four cars of the train plunged into the water. A 1990 derailment and collision with a commuter train in Massachusetts caused 453 injuries but no deaths. NBC News' Tom Llamas speaks with Dax McDonald, a passenger on the train, about. Steve Day, left, and the park's director of excursions, Mike Bunn, explained the scenario leading up to the derailment. I knew then that we had derailed.. KANSAS CITY, Mo. The train was struck by a tractor-trailer at a grade crossing. Andrea Chancey didn't attend a memorial service held in 2016 to honor victims of the crash, and she's never seen a monument erected at the site of the repaired bridge recalling the disaster. BRENTWOOD, Calif. Three people were killed Sunday afternoon when an Amtrak commuter train smashed into a car n Northern California, authorities said. The train struck a gasoline tanker at a grade crossing. Russ explained that plans originally called for Ernie Russ to get off the train in Mobile. (Press-Register file), Among those who visited the site of the Sunset Limited crash on Thursday was Tom Russ of Foley, whose brother, Ernie Russ, was one of three engineers who died in the derailment. As a result of this economic disaster, the District itself is currently projected to lose $200 million in tax revenue over the next year. "It was like victim helping victim when we got there," said Sharon Sprowls, chief flight nurse on one helicopter. On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which sets a date for the freedom of more than 3 million enslaved in the United States and recasts the Civil War as a fight against slavery. Had one of the rails been severed by the bridge's displacement, the track circuit would have opened, causing the approach signal to display a stop (red) aspect and the preceding signal an yellow (approach) approach indication. Were looking at them, he said, because one of those barges has a big dent in it.. I thought, This is it. Forty-seven people died and more than 100 others were hurt. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. They grabbed wooden debris to stay afloat until more help arrived. The train was running about 30 minutes late because of an air conditioning problem that was repaired in New Orleans. Three men, including two close friends who wanted to be among the first to ride Amtrak's new route in Washington, died Monday after the train derailed. The train derailed due to debris from a landslide. routinely investigated such accidents under Federal train wreck statutes, which make it a Federal crime to sabotage or damage a train in interstate commerce. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com ), Since his brother died in the 1993 crash of the Sunset Limited, Tom Russ of Foley had never visited the scene of the accident. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com ), Twenty-three years after the Sunset Limited crash, there's little to distinguish the bridge over Bayou Canot. In Washington, Amtrak officials said the death toll could equal or exceed all previous fatalities in the 23- year history of the long-distance passenger line. Details on the bent track were included in hundreds of pages of [] In the dark of night, three travelers advanced inexorably toward tragedy. (AP/KWCH) - Several lawsuits have been filed following the Amtrak train collision and derailment in rural Missouri that killed four people and injured up to 150 others. WILSON, John, 62, Lyon, Miss. Chancey remembers tumbling as her double-decker coach, Car No. Tom Russ, brother of Sunset Limited crash victim Ernie Russ, speaks on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016. Following is a complete list of the 47 people who are known to have died Wednesday in the crash of an Amtrak train near Mobile, Ala. It hit the damaged bridge at speed, with no warning anything was amiss. "And everything went black.". One had a deep gash on its bow. Mr. Archer noted, as did Secretary Pena, that at least one locomotive had "literally flown through the air. He could not swim. [4], Last edited on 26 February 2023, at 22:15, "Derailment of Amtrak Train NO. The crew of the Mauvilla was severely criticized for their actions but escaped criminal liability. The bayou is home to snakes and alligators, some say bears as well. This had put it a half-hour behind schedule. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. 1993, Section A, Page 15 Buy . Seated next to him in one of the train cars was Fred Russell, 70, of Indio, Calif. There was suddenly a roller coaster sensation, Paiz said. An Amtrak train headed to Miami derails near Mobile, Alabama, killing 47 people on September 22, 1993. Agents interviewed the tug operator but declined to identify him or reveal what he said. That work could be finished Saturday, according to CSX Transportation Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., the rail company that owns the track. The "miracle child," as the media called her, went to live with the family of her mother's older sister in Lancaster, Ohio, until she was 18. Alabama Gov. On September 22, 1993, an Amtrak train derailed on the CSX Transportation Big Bayou Canot Bridge near Mobile, Alabama, United States. March 17, 1993 Amtrak Silver Star hits gasoline tanker. Were going to die.. It backed away and sent in two flat-bottomed skiffs. That little boy never fussed or bothered. The missing crew members were believed to be in the three engines, which were mired in muck and still burning. After the crash, Andrea was hospitalized with injuries that included oil inhalation. Twenty-Three years, visitors -- including a first responder and the brother of an engineer who died -- returned to the scene of a deadly rail disaster. "We were throwing sheets and blankets out of the cars that were still on the track to the people who were wet from being in the water," said Edward Mouton, a 20-year-old passenger from Los Angeles. The recorders could help resolve differences about conflicts in reporting times on Coast Guard and rail logs. Updated on December 20, 2017, 12:59 pm Posted on December 19, 2017, 9:22 am. As of Wednesday, at least 13 remained hospitalized. "As soon as it got daylight, we realized how bad it was," he said. Five of the injured were hospitalized in critical condition. (Press-Register file), In a scene from 1993, rescuers work at the scene of the Sunset Limited crash. Meanwhile, the Mauvilla, a towboat operated by the Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company, was pulling six barges of coal and wood through the Alabama marshes. Born with severe cerebral palsy, their girl would need assistance the rest of her life; she still uses a wheelchair and has home health-care aides who cook and clean for her. Forty-seven people, 42 of whom were passengers,[1] were killed many by drowning, others by fire/smoke inhalation. The train derailed due to a sabotaged switch. The crew worked for Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co. Andrew Harris, the company's general manager, said Friday the barges were in the bayou to "tie off" during fog. "The flames were higher than the trees," he said. By that clocking, the train crashed into the bayou at about 2:48 a.m. Working on a Tug. In the very early morning hours of September 22, the train was traveling through Alabama. GPS guidance systems and improved radar have made it much less likely that a heavy vessel could hit it, and guides of Thursday's Blakeley Explorer tour said that trains have better warning systems as well. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Several of the passengers were elderly. The safety board had already determined, he said, that "there were adequate inspections done in the past few months to insure the integrity of the bridge, the engines and the tracks.". HELENA, Mont. Flames spread from one of the three locomotives, Dopheide said, and people around him could not find emergency exits. The train struck two CSX workers walking along their train. Nicholas Barchie, the president of Warrior and Gulf, did not respond to repeated calls for comment. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. The train struck a garbage truck at a grade crossing. (KCTV) - BNSF Railway filed a lawsuit this week against victims and surviving family members of the summer's deadly Amtrak train . "Whenever I see Amtrak has another accident, I call my aunt and I say, 'They did it again. Odom did not respond to an interview request. "I had my head on her belly and she was rubbing me.". The train derailed after colliding with a dump truck obstructing a railroad crossing. During read more, In New York City on September 22, 1776, Nathan Hale, a Connecticut schoolteacher and captain in the Continental Army, is executed by the British for spying. The bayou is too shallow under the trestle, he said, and the bridge supports are not wide enough to accommodate barge traffic. MOBILE, Ala. -- Amtrak has agreed to settle 42 lawsuits filed by families of passengers who died in the 1993 Sunset Limited train derailment near Mobile, bringing an end to five years of legal wrangling. Too much time has passed, he said. Helicopter medical units from the University of South Alabama Medical Center were among the first units on the scene. Miles away, Willie C. Odom steered a towboat as it pushed barges up a river that was getting foggier by the mile. Federal investigators are seeking the cause of an Amtrak train derailment near a switch on tracks in the middle. The train struck a tractor-trailer at a grade crossing. Inflamed by these fabrications, and resentful of the citys growing African American population, white read more, Shaka, founder of the Zulu Kingdom of southern Africa, is murdered by his two half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana, after Shakas mental illness threatened to destroy the Zulu tribe. Mr. Archer of the F.B.I. The accident, the deadliest in Amtrak's history, was caused by a negligent towboat. 1:23. Another passenger, Alfredo Lamedo, 59, of Miami, was in a car that did not drop into the bayou. "Everybody just kind of floated together and went out the back of the car. Published: Sep. 22, 2022 at 4:42 AM PDT. One lady was holding onto someones belt.. This article is more than 7 years old. Nearly 25 years later, the survivors remember that night vividly: "I smell the oil. 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