An eight-car Chicago commuter train was the catalyst of thirty-two passenger injuries when it skipped a track and scaled an escalator.
Aside from the expected post traumatic stress, none of the people on board sustained life-threatening injuries.
Via the AP:
An enormous disaster was avoided thanks to the timing of the crash at 02:50 a.m. The bustling station is usually packed with travelers making their way to or from Chicago from the major airport, and a Chicago Transit Authority official said the crash happened at a traditionally quiet time.
Denise Adams, a passenger on the train, told the Chicago Sun-Times she heard a loud noise during the impact.
“I heard a ‘Boom!’ and when I got off the train, the train was all the way up the escalator,” she said. “It was a lot of panic.”
CTA investigators along with the city fire department and police were reviewing security footage and interviewing the driver and other CTA workers to pin down the cause of the accident around 2:50 a.m. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were expected to arrive later in the day.
“We will be looking at equipment. We will be looking at signals. We’ll be looking at the human factor and any extenuating circumstances,” CTA spokesman Brian Steele said. “But really at this point, it’s far too soon to speculate.”
Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said most of the injured were able to walk away from the crash without assistance. They were divided up and taken to four hospitals in the nearby area.
Check out the pics in the gallery to see how lucky and blessed they truly were.
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Photo: AP Photo/Andrew A. Nelles/NBC Chicago, Kenneth Webster
