A semi tractor-trailer rig collided with an Amtrak passenger train in California’s Central Valley Monday afternoon, causing more than 30 minor to moderate injuries as three of the train’s four cars derailed. Kings County Assistant Sheriff Dave Putnam told the Los Angeles Times that the rig struck the middle of the train. “It was a fairly high speed collision which caused the train to derail and stop about a half mile south of the initial hit,” Putnam said.
The train was carrying 169 passengers and crew en route from Oakland to Bakersfield at the time. Amtrak issued the following statement: “At about 12:25 p.m. Pacific Time, a semi tractor-trailer rig drove into the side of an Amtrak train at a public railroad crossing equipped with warning lights, bells and gates, south of Hanford, California.”
The collision left one of the cars hanging at a 45-degree angle from the rails, and another at 65 degrees.
Dan Lynch, Kings County Emergency Medical Services director, told the Fresno Bee that all the injuries were either minor or “complaints of pain.”
