Horror Of Amtrak Derailment Revealed In 911 Calls

DUPONT, WA - Emergency calls made in the moments after the fatal derailment of Amtrak 501 last week have been obtained by the Associated Press. The calls, from passengers and witnesses, show how horrifying the scene was.

One passenger tells a 911 dispatcher "there are tons of bodies" in the train, and another woman calling from I-5 tells a dispatcher an Amtrak train fell onto the highway and that there were "bodies laid everywhere."

Three people died and more than 70 were injured in the Dec. 18 crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the derailment. However, the train was traveling at about 79 mph in a 30 mph zone. Investigators are also looking into whether the engineer was distracted in the moments before the derailment.

"My abdomen hurts really bad. I don't feel good," said a crying woman identified as Angela who was bleeding from her head and wailed in panic each time she couldn't find an answer to a dispatcher's questions. "I don't know how old I am off the top of my head. I'm sorry!"

Angela was in Car 5 with her 14-year-old son as the train sped through a curve and derailed. She begged for help and directed her bleeding son, who was suffering neck and back pain, to lie still. He took a hit to his face. They got slammed into a table. She couldn't find her shoes.

"Everybody's getting off but I'm afraid to move my son," Angela said, adding that "tons of people are hurt!"

Image courtesy Pierce County Sheriff's Office