First report out on Amtrak derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Tuesday about the Amtrak derailment near Joplin last month that took three lives and injured many more, a report that provides few clues as to what caused the tragic event.

The report begins with a warning that the information is preliminary and will be supplemented and/or corrected as the investigation continues.

The report lays out the series of events leading up to and immediately following the derailment which happened at 3:47 p.m. Sept. 25 at a curve at mile post 1014.57 on the BNSF Railway near Joplin.

Three were killed and 44 were hospitalized due to their injuries, including at least five hospitalized overnight.

The train consisted of two locomotives and 10 railcars, eight of which derailed and four of which ended up on their side.

Damage is estimated by Amtrak to be more than $22 million.

The report says the area the train was traveling on had a speed limit of 79 mph and the train was going between 75 and 78 mph when emergency brakes were activated.

It says weather was clear with no precipitation at the time of the accident.

NTSB has inspected the track and equipment, reviewed signal and train control data logs, obtained data from from the lead locomotive’s forward-facing image and event recorders, and conducted interviews with relevant parties, but the investigation is ongoing, the report says.

It says future investigation will focus on track and engineering equipment, survival factors and passenger railcar crashworthiness.