An Amtrak commuter train sits on top of a freight rail car after colliding with a freight train in Chicago. Photo / Reuters
An Amtrak commuter train sits on top of a freight rail car after colliding with a freight train in Chicago. Photo / Reuters
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CHICAGO - An Amtrak passenger train smashed into the back of a freight train in Chicago today injuring 30 people, five of them seriously.
The engine car was knocked off its tracks and fell on top of the freight train but the passenger cars remained on the tracksand stayed upright in the 11.30am crash on the city's south side.
Five train employees were "seriously" injured in the collision and 25 of the train's 187 passengers were hurt, Amtrak said in a statement.
Local television stations showed footage of firefighters helping passengers off the train and walking down the track and through a field.
They were later bused to the city's downtown train station, Amtrak said.
"The vast majority of people are in good shape," fire department spokesman Larry Langford told CNN.
"We have them categorised as walking wounded."
There was no initial word on why the two trains were on the same track or what caused the collision.
The accident happened in the same part of the city where spikes were removed from the tracks of a commuter rail line in an apparent sabotage attempt in October. Shots were also fired at a train on that line in June.
Officials believe it may have been as a result of a domestic dispute involving a train engineer but no charges have been laid.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the sabotage attempt, said they will not be involved in the investigation into today's crash unless there is good reason to believe it was not an accident.
