headed towards seattle, a trip that allows passengers to experience the rugged splendor of the american west. instead, at around 4:00 p.m. mountain time on saturday near joplin, montana, the idyllic scene turned to tragedy. it was probably 10 or 15 seconds of rocking back and forth and tons of noise. then we came to a stop. reporter: megan vander vest was taking a nap in one of the front sleeper cars that did not derail. amtrak said there were approximately 141 passengers and 16 crew members. the train had two locomotives and ten cars in total, eight of which derailed. i would describe the experience as like extreme turbulence on an airplane but louder. and there was kind of a lot of smoke smell. reporter: she said there was silence in her car and then passengers evacuated within ten minutes. it wasn t until she got outside that she realized the extent of the problem. she says while the front cars weren t affected, she could see
killed as rescue crews work to help passenger just the amtrak empire building 727 had taken off from chicago headed to seattle. a trip amtrak says on the website to experience the rugged splendor of the american west. including major portions of the lewis and clark trail. at around 4:00 p.m. mountain time on saturday the scene turned to tragedy. probably ten or 15 seconds of rocking back and forth and tons of noise and came to a stop. reporter: megan was taking a nap in a front sleeper car that did not derail 141 passengers and 16 crew members. two locomotives and eight of ten cars derailed. kind of like extreme tush benz on an airplane but like louder and there was kind of a lot of smoke smell.
all, about eight of those according amtrak derailed up from the original five that was reported. the big trick here is the location. joplin is in liberty county, montana. population only about 150. passengers were being taken to a local senior center but because of this location where this derailment happened, amtrak is not able to provide another train to get these people to where they were going. i just want you to listen to one of these passengers now, meghan, she was on board as the train derailed and she describes a terrifying scene. i awoke to it derailing. i would describe the experience as kind of like extreme turbulence on an airplane, but like louder. there was kind of a lot of smoke smell. of it the first thought i really had when i woke up was owe my god we re derailing. it was 10 or 15 seconds of
transportation, like another train, to get these people further down the line. this train was going between chicago and seattle, average speed about 50 miles an hour. it takes about 45 hour to take this trip. it s a pretty long journey, a scenic one through the big sky area of montana and beyond. we are just hearing from passengers who described this terrifying scene as this train derailed. i awoke to it derailing and i would describe the experience as kind of like extreme turbulence on an airplane but loud ir. there was kind of a lot of smoke smell and it was the first thought i really had when i woke up was, oh, my god we re derailing. it was probably 10 or 15 seconds of rocking back and forth and tons of noise and then we came to a stop and, really, it was we didn t know what was going on.
forth and tons of noise, and then we came to a stop. it was kind of like extreme turbulence on an airplane, but like louder, and there was kind of a lot of smoke smell. amtrak released a statement today on behalf of their ceo. they said while they re fully active in their investigation, they said, we have no words that can adequately express our sore faux for those who lost a loved one or who were hurt in this horrible event. they are in our thoughts and prayers. president biden is optimistic even though democrats are fighting about passing the infrastructure bill. the reason it would almost certainly fail is because of