According to a statement from Amtrack, a southbound Amtrak passenger train derailed early Monday afternoon south of Hanford, California, after a semitrailer ran into it. Click “more” for full details!
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Between 30 and 50 people sustained minor to moderate injuries, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham told NBC News. According to the Fresno Bee newspaper, the driver of the big rig was pinned in his vehicle.
The truck, which carried cotton trash, pushed through the crossing bars and into the locomotive and the last passenger car, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham told NBC News. She said other alarm signals — lights flashing and bells sounding — were in effect.
She said 169 passengers were aboard the San Joaquin train, which runs between the San Francisco Bay Area and Bakersfield.
Faran Thomason, a passenger who identifies himself as Junglecat on Twitter, wrote that he was “in the middle of nowhere by Hanford,” and that the train “hit a semi on the track.”