OFF THE RAILS

40 Hurt in Amtrak Accident

Train derails in central California.

It has all the makings of a Hollywood disaster movie—only it happened in real life. An Amtrak passenger train collided with a rig at a track crossing just outside of Hanford, Calif., Monday. The impact partially derailed the train, injuring at least 40 people as it skidded to a halt over a quarter mile from the crossing. It’s not clear if the truck had been crossing the tracks when the train crashed into it, or if it struck the train broadside as it passed through. Said one passenger about her experience when her rail car started leaning: “I thought, ‘Oh s--t, what’s happening?’ I don’t normally cuss, but I was scared.”