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30 Hurt in Amtrak Crash

Officials probing accident that critically injured 5 passengers

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 30, 2007 7:26 PM CST

(Newser) – Five were critically injured when an Amtrak passenger train rammed a stopped freight train in Chicago today, the Chicago Tribune reports. Nine more were seriously hurt, including five Amtrak workers, and another 30 suffered minor injuries. Officials, who freed some workers from the locomotive with hydraulic cutting tools, expect the toll will rise to 50 by the end of the day.

Officials didn't know if the 187-passenger train from Grand Rapids, Mich., had missed a signal. "The freight train was on the track it was supposed to be on waiting for its signal," a spokesman said. "The Amtrak train went into the rear of it." A National Transportation Safety Board team is on its way to investigate.

A fire truck ladder extends toward the scene where an Amtrak passenger train plowed into the back of a freight train on Chicago's South Side, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A fire truck ladder extends toward the scene where an Amtrak passenger train plowed into the back of a freight train on Chicago's South Side, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)   (Associated Press)
Two passengers who were onboard an Amtrak passenger train that plowed into the back of a freight train on Chicago's South Side are treated at the scene, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Two passengers who were onboard an Amtrak passenger train that plowed into the back of a freight train on Chicago's South Side are treated at the scene, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)   (Associated Press)
Rescue personnel help a young child off an Amtrak train that collided into the back of a freight train Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, on Chicago's South Side  critically injuring five people. There were 187 passengers and six crew members aboard the train, which was en route from Grand Rapids, Mich....
Rescue personnel help a young child off an Amtrak train that collided into the back of a freight train Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, on Chicago's South Side critically injuring five people. There were 187 passengers...   (Associated Press)
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