At least three people died when a passenger train derailed in the United States

At least three dead in Montana passenger train derailment (Northwestern United States), which also left many injured, local officials said on Saturday evening.

The Amtrak train, which traveled between Chicago (Illinois) and Seattle (Washington State), it carried around 150 passengers and 13 employees.

“We are deeply saddened by the information that local authorities now confirm that three people have lost their lives. as a result of this accident, ”the company said, adding that“ injuries ”have also been reported among passengers and train personnel.

The first images of the local media show several cars overturned on the railroad tracks.

The accident happened at around 4:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. GMT) near the town of Joplin, 320 kilometers north of Helena, the capital of Montana; and the Liberty County Police Department said there were several more injured, but did not provide a number.

“Amtrak is working with local authorities to transport injured passengers and safely evacuate the rest of the passenger”the railway company said in a statement.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

Several accidents with means of transport have been recorded this year in the United States. One of the most important was the collision of nearly 100 vehicles on a Texas highway in February, it was slippery due to the ice formed following an intense winter storm, local authorities reported.

At least five people died from this incident It had an impact because of the images that were recorded.

As reported by the agency AFP, at least 36 people were transported to hospitals in the region. Firefighter spokesman Michael Drivdahl told a press conference the number could rise as rescuers continued to work shortly after the incident..

“The situation continues to be chaotic,” he said The weather channel Jason McLaughlin, a professional “storm chaser”. “It looks like a few vehicles got out of control, and when that happened the others piled up“He added.

The winter storm dumped freezing rain, sleet and snow in various parts of the United States.

Further south in Austin more than 20 vehicles were involved in a collision on an icy road and one person was injured, the emergency services authorities reported.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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