Most of Amtrak train jumps tracks in S.C.
Most of a nine-car Amtrak train derailed near Spartanburg County, S.C. early Monday, the railroad says.
There were 207 passengers and 11 crew members on board, Amtrak reports, adding that no serious injuries were reported, though two people were hospitalized.
Officials tell CBS Spartanburg affiliate WSPA-TV the Amtrak Crescent was heading from New Orleans to New York when seven of the nine cars left the tracks. All remained upright, as did the train's two locomotives.
Heat and light were quickly restored, Amtrak says. Restrooms were available and there was food for the passengers as they waited for buses to take them to their destinations.
Passenger Jessica Smith told CBS News that at midnight, the train began rattling and shaking abruptly, waking passengers. She called it "traumatizing."
Smith says the approximately 200 passengers still on the train were told buses would take them to their destinations. Later, Smith said passengers werere moving to the first few cars that hadn't derailed and hoped to get moving again "shortly." She said the engine and baggage cars were on the track and may be the cars that get passengers from the scene.
Amtrak says the train left New Orleans Sunday morning and was due in New York City Monday afternoon.
The incident will be investigated by the Federal Railroad Administration Amtrak and Norfolk Southern, which owns, controls, maintains and dispatches that portion of track.
Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman said the Associated Press that the normal track speed in that area is 79 mph, and conductors were slowing down other passenger trains to "walking speed" in the area around the accident.
Chapman said he did not know how fast the Amtrak train had been going when it derailed.