Three killed in Amtrak derailment near Joplin

An Empire Builder derailment just west of Joplin about 4 p.m. Saturday killed three people, hospitalized several others and injured dozens of people.

Amtrak reported the westbound train, with two engines and 10 cars, was carrying 141 people and had 16 Amtrak employees on board.

Eight of the cars derailed with some tipping over.

Gov. Greg Gianforte said at a press conference in Chester Sunday afternoon that, at that time, all passengers had been accounted for and had left Chester.

He said all but five of the people injured had been treated and released from the hospitals in Kalispell and Great Falls they were sent to. The five who remain are in stable condition, he said.

A Liberty County Sheriff's Office staff member said this morning they could not release the names or hometowns of the people who died in the derailment, adding that Sheriff Nick Erickson was at the scene of the derailment with investigators.

"We are fully cooperating with the investigation, working closely with National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Railroad Administration, local law enforcement and response agencies," Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said in a statement released Sunday. "We share the sense of urgency to understand why the accident happened; however, until the investigation is complete, we will not comment further on the accident itself. The NTSB will identify the cause or causes of this accident, and Amtrak commits to taking appropriate actions to prevent a similar accident in the future."

BNSF Railway owns and operates the tracks The Empire Builder runs along across the Hi-Line on its route from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

BNSF spokesperson Matt Jones said at Sunday's press conference that the tracks where the derailment occurred had last been inspected Thursday.

Liberty County Disaster and Emergency Services Manager Sarah Robbin said during the press conference that it was a terrible accident, but this is what first responders are here for.

"It was an all-hands-on-deck situation that we talk about and train for," Robbin said.

Despite the latest surge of COVID-19 straining many hospitals, Robbin said, they had not had an issue finding beds for people that needed them and hospitals from around the state were calling in to say they had space available.

Aubrey Green of Portland who was in Havre tracking down a mystery from his childhood before getting on the train, said this morning that he was in the middle of the first car when he felt it tilt north slightly and before long he was looking out the window at dirt.

"I thought, 'Oh no,'" Green said "... It was real quick. I heard a noise and all of a sudden I'm on my side."

He said he got a bump on the head which bled a little but he didn't even notice it until someone told him. He said the injury wasn't serious, but others weren't as lucky.

He said he stepped over three people on his way out of the car, one said they couldn't get up, one was laying on the ground clearly in a lot of pain, and another wasn't moving at all.

"I don't think he was dead," Green said, "just unconscious."

However, he said, the worst he saw was the last car, with one man clearly dead.

Green said he was taken to a local school gymnasium before being put on a small white school bus to Shelby.

This morning, he said he was on his way back home in Portland.

Amtrak mobilizes aid

Amtrak quickly responded to the incident and offered its assistance and condolences to people involved.

"We are in mourning today for the people who lost their lives due to the derailment of the Empire Builder train Saturday, near Joplin, Montana, on the BNSF Railway, as well as the many others who were injured," Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said in a statement released Sunday. "We have no words that can adequately express our sorrow for those who lost a loved one or who were hurt in this horrible event. They are in our thoughts and prayers."

Amtrak sent an incident response team with emergency personnel and Amtrak leadership officials to the scene and created a family assistance center in Great Falls with family assistance liaisons to reach out to injured people and their families, Flynn said, as well as dispatching nurse case managers to help the people hospitalized.

"Amtrak's immediate and sustained focus is on doing everything we can to help our passengers and crew, especially the families of those who were injured or died, at this painful and difficult time," Flynn said.

He added that as soon as Amtrak has permission, it will retrieve the personal effects of passengers and crew of the train at the derailment site.

Local response to derailment

Emergency responders and personnel from six or seven counties responded to the scene. Local residents also helped at the site and provided places for people to stay and provided supplies.

An incident command center was established in the Liberty Community and Senior Center.

Robbins was not available for comment this morning, but in his statement, Flynn thanked people in the area for their support.

"We want to extend our deep gratitude and sincere appreciation to the Joplin and greater Liberty County communities and other Montana counties and their selfless first responders, hospital staff and law enforcement for their immediate and ongoing help to support of all those aboard the Empire Builder for responding with such urgency, compassion and patience," Flynn said.

Law enforcement, including Hill County Sheriff's Office personnel, helped secure the scene and direct traffic, and various emergency responders including from the Havre Fire Department responded.

Montana Highway Patrol reported shortly after the derailment that reduced lanes and traffic delays were caused by the derailment.

Hill County Sheriff Jamieson Ross said two of his deputies were at the scene for eight hours each.

Havre Fire Chief Mel Paulson said his department dispatched an ambulance with a crew and the command vehicle.

The Havre fire department personnel were at the scene for a couple of hours

"We went over to help in any way we could," Paulson said.

Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Amanda Frickel was among those present at the press conference.

In an interview after the conference, Frickel said she only spent 20 minutes on the scene before she needed to get to work in the triage center, but those 20 minutes were difficult, especially when seeing just how bad the accident was.

"Nothing prepares you for when you show up on a scene where the word casualties is being thrown around," she said.

She said it is difficult knowing that the derailment took three lives, but it's important to remember that more than 140 people are still alive even after a derailment that threw many train cars off the track onto their sides.

Frickel said if it had been winter, or even if the weather had been bad the situation could have been a lot worse as there were a few people who needed to get to health care facilities immediately when first responders found them.

She said she wasn't able to spend time talking to people before they were taken elsewhere but she heard a story about a family from Wolf Point that got on the train to Seattle to see a family member who was in really bad shape.

Frickel said first responders did a great job caring for them and getting them on their way as soon as possible, before it was too late.

She said she's proud of her colleagues, the counties that responded to the crisis and the larger Hi-Line community and all that they did.

"I'm proud to be a Montanan right now ... the entire Hi-Line came together." Frickel said.

She said triage ran like a well-oiled machine with everyone working insanely hard and fast, but also carefully and efficiently.

Frickel said the help of local nurses who took vitals and made sure everyone's health needs were met in this stressful time were especially crucial to the operation and they performed admirably.

She also said local doctors and pharmacists were on scene to help people who had been separated from their personal effects including medicine they need, a less-well-known aspect of first response.

Havre Daily News Reporter Pam Burke contributed to this report.