HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Missouri State Highway Patrol says a fourth person has died as a result of the crash and derailment of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief Monday afternoon. The patrol says the fourth person died in the Hospital. No names have been released.
The train was traveling at 89 miles per hour when it hit a dump truck near the town of Mendon, Missouri.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it is investigating several factors, including the reaction time given to the train crew before the impact. The locomotives are equipped with event recorders. The patrol also says 150 people were transported to 10 area hospitals for treatment of various injuries.
All other information regarding the accident will now come from the NTSB. Amtrak also said that the eastbound train scheduled to leave Los Angeles Tuesday evening has been canceled. That train would have arrived in Hutchinson Thursday morning. The westbound train scheduled to depart from Chicago Tuesday afternoon will instead leave from Kansas City so all westbound service from Kansas City to Los Angeles will be in place. That train is scheduled to arrive in Hutchinson at 3:18 a.m. Wednesday morning. For information on the eastbound train currently making its way to Kansas, call 1-800 USA-Rail.
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