Amtrak train on the tracks near Cimarron Tuesday. photo Gray Co. Sheriff
CIMARRON, Kan. (AP) — Federal investigators say a feed truck from a nearby lot where cattle are fattened hit the track and shifted it before an Amtrak train derailed in southwest Kansas.
National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener did not say on Tuesday if this was the cause of the Amtrak Southwest Chief’s accident Monday.
But he says the impact of the truck from the Cimarron Crossing Feeders shifted the train track 12 to 14 inches.
The feed company declined comment Tuesday.
The derailment injured at least 32 people although most were treated and released from the hospital. Two patients remained hospitalized in Kansas, one after undergoing surgery. The condition of two people flown to an Amarillo, Texas, hospital wasn’t immediately known.