Mar 13, 2008 1:21 pm US/Eastern
Amtrak Collision Kills Worker In R.I.
BOSTON (CBS) ―
An Amtrak passenger train traveling from Washington to Boston struck and killed a worker on the tracks in Providence, R.I.
According to Cliff Cole of Amtrak, three workers were struck by an Acela train shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday.
One was killed and the two others were seriously injured, Cole said.
Officials say two Amtrak workers and a contractor were inspecting the tracks just north of the Providence train station when the accident occurred.
It was unclear whether the person killed was the contractor or an Amtrak worker.
"This is a very rare occurrence," Amtrak spokesperson Karina Romero said. "Normally when we inspect tracks, trains are not in the area."
It was not clear why the workers did not see or hear the train coming, but the track does curve sharply in the area.
"It could occur that someone would be on the tracks so that they would not see or hear the train," Romero said.
Amtrak said the train was traveling below the 55 mph speed limit in that area.
None of the 168 passengers and crew aboard the train was injured, officials said.
The MBTA line from South Attleboro to Providence shut down for a few hours, but was up and running again by 3:48 p.m. The Amtrak train resumed its trip to Boston, arriving at South Station in late afternoon.
Roger Kay, a passenger on the five-car train, said it was traveling slowly after leaving the station when it hit the workers.
"I think they had been hitting the horn and trying to slow down," Kay said in a phone interview from the train. "They weren't even going that fast, so there wasn't that abrupt of a stop."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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