Hamtrak train derails in remote Montana ,killing at least three people

Amtrak's Empire Builder, a 10-car passenger train, derailed near Joplin, Montana on Saturday.

An Amtrak train traveling from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest derailed in a remote part of Montana on Saturday afternoon, killing three people and injuring others,

Authorities would not speak on the number of injured or the extent of their injuries.

Eight cars from Amtrak's Empire Builder train 7/27 headed westbound to Seattle/Portland derailed at about 4 p.m. near Joplin, Montana, a town around 30 miles south of the Canadian border with a population of about 150 people, Amtrak said.

The train consisted of two locomotives and 10 cars and there were about 141 passengers and 16 crew members on board, Amtrak said in an additional statement Sunday, clarifying previous figures provided.

"We are deeply saddened to learn local authorities are now confirming that three people have lost their lives as a result of this accident. There are also reported injuries among the passengers and crew members travelling on the train. Amtrak is working with the local authorities to transport those who were injured to medical care, and to safely evacuate everyone else at the scene," said the statement.

Amtrak has activated an Incident Response Team and "are sending emergency personnel and Amtrak leadership to the scene to help support our passengers, our employees and their families with their needs," the statement said. Individuals with questions about their friends and family aboard the train should call 800-523-9101, the railway said

"We are deeply saddened to learn local authorities are now confirming that three people have lost their lives as a result of this accident. There are also reported injuries among the passengers and crew members travelling on the train. Amtrak is working with the local authorities to transport those who were injured to medical care, and to safely evacuate everyone else at the scene," said the statement.

Amtrak has activated an Incident Response Team and "are sending emergency personnel and Amtrak leadership to the scene to help support our passengers, our employees and their families with their needs," the statement said. Individuals with questions about their friends and family aboard the train should call 800-523-9101, the railway said

"It was probably 10 or 15 seconds of rocking back and forth and tons of noise, and then we came to a stop. Really we didn't know what was going on for a couple minutes."

She said she was evacuated within 10 minutes of the incident and only then understood the extent of the damage.

"We kind of thought maybe the car behind us had slightly come off or something like that, but it ended up being much, much worse and a lot more jarring to see when we got off the train," she said. "The car behind ours was slightly off and then the one behind that was kind of in between two sets of railroad tracks, and the one behind that one had like completely tipped over and fallen over and that was kind of the most shocking part."