Three Dead in Amtrak Derailment in Montana

Empire Builder was heading to Seattle from Chicago

JOPLIN, MT. (AP) — A team of investigators from the NTSB are at the site of an Amtrak derailment in north-central Montana that killed three people and left seven hospitalized.

The westbound Empire Builder was heading to Seattle from Chicago, with two locomotives and 10 cars, when it left the tracks about 4 p.m. Saturday near Joplin.

That is a town of about 200 people about 30 miles south of the Canadian border.

Amtrak said the train was carrying 141 passengers and 16 crew members and had two locomotives and 10 cars, eight of which derailed.

Five of the injured were taken to a hospital in Great Falls and another two were in a hospital in Kalispell.