An AMTRAK Public transport train, which was on a route from Chicago to Seattle, derailed on Sunday in the middle of Montana while it was crossing a pair of tracks. The deadly incident occurred after the train departed its station at 4am, bound for Seattle in several hours. The derailment killed 3 and injured dozens of people, some requiring immediate medical attention. Members from the NTSB (National Transport Security Board) were quickly on the scene, and are still investigating the crash site to attempt and find a cause for the derailment. The last incident of major scale in AMTRAK occurred in 2015, when a train bound to New York City from Washington DC was derailed in Philadelphia, killing several in the process and wounding about 200, 11 critically.

AMTRAK Train with 2 locomotives and 10 cars after being derailed from its tracks in rural Montana on Sunday (Ted S. Warren via AP)

The train was carrying about 140 passengers on their route to Seattle. The first witness to arrive on the scene was Trevor Fossen, a local resident of the nearby small town of Joplin. Trevor was on a dirt path near the tracks when he heard the sound of the train derailing, rushing over on his dirtbike and calling local authorities and his brother to help survivors. A 14-man team has been sent out to investigate the causes of the derailment, and has yet to find any results. The route the train was operating on has been closed in the state to aid investigators, similar to what happened in the 2015 derailment. Service has been suspended on that line to Seattle until further notice.

-Written by Shane Miller