NORTHFIELD, Vt. (AP) - An Amtrak train headed from Vermont to Washington, D.C., on Monday hit rocks that had fallen onto the track from a ledge, spilling the locomotive and a passenger car down an embankment, derailing three other cars and injuring seven people.
The Vermonter train carrying 98 passengers and four crew members derailed at around 10:30 a.m. in Northfield, about 20 miles southwest of Montpelier. Officials with the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating.
"This was a freak of nature," Gov. Peter Shumlin said at a news conference.
One of the injured people was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and was being evaluated in the emergency room, spokesman Rick Adams said. Six others went to Central Vermont Medical Center with injuries including neck, back and shoulder pain and lightheadedness.
Federal records show the company that operates that stretch of tracks, New England Central Railroad, which is part of the Genesee and Wyoming Railroad, has had four accidents since 2006 that could have involved debris on the tracks.
In the railroad's 54 accidents since 2006, three people died.
Federal safety rules for tracks that carry passengers require at least two inspections every week, with at least one day between each inspection.
State officials said a freight train had passed over the same tracks Sunday night with no problems.
Company officials confirmed details of the crash but did not immediately provide a comment.
But on Monday, the train hit rocks that had fallen onto the tracks from a ledge above, sending the locomotive and a passenger car over an embankment. Three other cars left the track but remained upright.