Amtrak Train From Vermont To Baltimore, DC Derails

ROXBURY, Vt. (WJZ) -- Seven people have been injured after a train that passes through both Maryland and DC went off the tracks. The Amtrak Vermonter derailed around 10:30 a.m. Monday in Northfield, Vermont. More than 100 people were on board.

Meghan McCorkell has more on the investigation.

That train makes a daily stop at Penn Station.

Now the NTSB is on the scene investigating.

First responders rushed to the scene as an Amtrak train went off the tracks in rural Vermont.

Passengers described the chaos.

"Next thing we know, we kind of swerved to the left and swerved to the right and we're all going, `Uh-oh,'" said one.

Ninety-eight passengers and four crew members were on board the Vermonter when the train hit a rock slide that had fallen onto the tracks.

"The engine is in the river. There are several cars hanging off the tracks," said Gov. Peter Shurnlin.

The impact derailed three cars. Passengers say it all happened in a matter of seconds. Some broke windows to escape.

"Saw the car in front of us kind of come up this way and that's the one that went down the ditch and ours ended up on its side," said a passenger.

The train travels daily from Union Station in DC to Vermont.

One crew member was seriously injured.

Officials do not believe the derailment was due to any negligence; they believe it was just a freak of nature.

"There's no belief that there's any wrongdoing here. A freight train went through late last night; it passed without incident," an official said.

Amtrak officials say they don't know how long it will take to clear that section of track. Officials say the section was last updated in 2013.

Amtrak is modifying the train's route as they repair the tracks in Vermont.