One dead as train crashes in swamp

A passenger was killed and 65 others were injured when a train derailed and toppled on its side as it crossed swamps in central Mississippi.

The nine-carriage Amtrak train, travelling from New Orleans to Chicago, derailed about 25 miles north of Jackson, leaving twisted and heavily damaged track.

“We have one confirmed dead,” said Amy Carruth, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency in Jackson. “Some of the injured are possibly critical.”

Lee Stokes, also of MEMA, said that while the derailment was believed to be an accident, the FBI had sent agents to the scene. Governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency.

Coroner Ricky Shivers identified the dead passenger as Clara Downs, 68, of Chicago. Stokes said it appeared about 65 people suffered “minor to critical injuries”.

The train appeared to leave the track on a trestle-bridge five or six feet over a swampy area in Mississippi’s Delta region.

Amtrak said all nine carriages derailed, with the first seven coming to rest on their sides. The locomotive remained on the track.

Dan Stessel, a spokesman for Amtrak, said 68 passengers and 12 crew members were on the train, the City of New Orleans. He said he had no information on what caused the accident.

Two passengers, Shelia Doyle and her husband Charles Lotz, told The Clarion-Ledger newspaper that they saw a cloud of dust and the train started tipping on its side. “Oh, my God, we are derailing,” Lotz said.

Authorities said many rescuers were forced to use off-road vehicles to reach the scene because of woods and soggy ground.

Searchers used flash lights and portable lighting during the night as they moved from car to car checking for more injured.