An Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress to a party retreat struck a garbage truck outside Charlottesville, Virginia, on Wednesday.
A nurse on the scene reported at least one fatality and at least one person in critical condition after the crash, WVIR-TV, an NBC affiliate in Charlottesville, said on Twitter. The outlet did not specify whether the two were in the truck or the train, but Amtrak said there were no reported injuries on the train.
Two people in the truck appear to be severely injured, said Representative French Hill of Arkansas. “Everybody on the train is okay,” he said. “It was a very sudden jolt to the train, but the train slowed down and is still on the track when it came to a stop.”
“There’s a lighted crossing guard where the train crosses,” Hill said. “The guardrails were down but the train hit the garbage truck.”
Republicans were heading to the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, for their annual planning retreat, a day after party members cheered for President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address in Washington.
Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods said in an email that the train “came into contact with a vehicle that was on the tracks at a.m. in Crozet, Virginia.”
“There are no reported injuries to passengers or crew members,” Woods said. She said local law enforcement is investigating the accident.
Representative Bill Flores of Texas said some people on the truck were injured but all of the lawmakers on the train were all right as far as he knew. He said some lawmakers who are doctors got off the train to help people in the truck.
“I thought we derailed or something because we heard a huge crash, but then we saw the wreckage on the left side of the train because the train kept going,” Flores said.
