One person who was not aboard the train was killed
At least two lawmakers hospitalized with minor injuries
A chartered train carrying dozens of GOP lawmakers to a Republican retreat in West Virginia struck a garbage truck south of Charlottesville, Virginia, on Wednesday, lawmakers said.
One person who was not aboard the train was killed, according to authorities and witness reports, and there were several injuries.
Speaking to reporters later Wednesday, several Republican lawmakers described the scene.
Brad Wenstrup, an Ohio congressman who was a trauma surgeon in Iraq, was the first member to leave the train to help victims. He immediately went to the aid of one man with Phil Roe, a Tennessee congressman who is also a doctor.
Roe said of the fatality that he believed the death was “instantaneous”and added: “I don’t think he suffered.
But they described a scene – debris scattered, acrid smoke in the air and fluid leaking out of the train – that was gruesome. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he had to offer his spare shirt to the Texas representative Michael Burgess because the Texan was covered “in blood and phlegm and mud” after ministering to the injured.
Several of those on the train had been at a Virginia baseball field in June when a gunman opened fire, seriously wounding the congressman Steve Scalise, and said the scene brought back painful memories. The Arizona senator Jeff Flake, who was visibly affected talking to reporters, said he was reminded of “[Wenstrup] cutting a uniform to apply a tourniquet” on that day. “I never wanted to experience a day like that again and unfortunately it came too soon.”
At least two lawmakers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The House speaker, Paul Ryan, was aboard and was unhurt, aides said.
Amtrak spokeswoman Beth Toll said two crew members and two passengers were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries after the incident, which happened around 11:20am in Crozet, Virginia, about 15 miles west of Charlottesville and two hours into the journey from Washington.
