COOSAWHATCHIE, S.C. — According to a wire service, an Amtrak train struck a log truck at a crossing Tuesday, derailing all 10 cars and causing minor injuries to 14 people on board, emergency officials said.
The train, traveling from New York to Miami, was going 79 mph when it hit the rear quarter of the truck, separating the bed from the cab and pushing the mangled wreckage and splintered logs down the tracks.
The driver, who told police he did not see the train, was not injured though he was still in the cab when the train hit.
“It knocked the breath out of me,” said Eric J. McKinney of Pembroke, Ga., who was charged with failure to yield the right of way. “I didn’t see anything until it was too late.”
Marion Blakey, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the agency would investigate.
The train was carrying 103 passengers and 13 crew. Most of the injuries were neck and back, said Mike Hodges, emergency management director for Jasper County.
The uninjured passengers were being taken by bus to Jacksonville, Fla., and from there Amtrak said it would get everyone to their destinations.
“I just finished a cup of coffee. I took my last sip, and then we heard ‘Boom,’“said Jerry Gagliardo of Hastings, Fla. “It looked like we were tipping over.”
The accident left logs scattered around the crossing and about a quarter-mile down the tracks where the engine stopped. The crossing has no active warning devices such as bells or descending gate arms, according to Federal Railroad Administration records.
Tuesday’s derailment was the second serious accident involving Amtrak in as many months. Four passengers died and more than 150 people were injured when an Amtrak Auto Train derailed on April 18 in Crescent City, Fla. That accident’s cause remains under investigation by the NTSB.