U.S.

Trains Collide In Chicago

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 3, 2001 / 4:50 PM EDT / CBS

A packed Chicago-area transit train rear-ended another train on elevated tracks during Friday morning's rush hour, injuring 141 passengers, some seriously, authorities said.

The bulk of the injuries were bruises, cuts, and neck and back sprains, but at least some of the injured were seriously hurt as they were sent flying by the collision, according to spokesmen for the Chicago Fire Department and area hospitals.

The two six-car trains did not derail. But hundreds of passengers were stranded on the trains that collided and on other trains along the elevated line that were stopped after the accident.

"I heard the impact and there was smoke, soot and dirt everywhere. Things were flying down from the ceiling. There was a moment of chaos on the train; people were yelling to see if anyone was hurt bad," said Michael Cohen, a passenger on one of the trains.

Yvette Pughsley, who was walking nearby, heard "a really loud boom and there was smoke everywhere."

"The cars were rocking and I thought 'Oh, my God, it's going to turn over,"' she said. "If it was going any faster, they would have turned over."

"There was a lot of whiplash and stuff like that," Chicago Fire Commission James Joyce said. "These people got bumped around, and they were plenty scared."

The two six-car trains collided just past a curve on the Chicago Transit Authority elevated line that carries commuters downtown from the city's North Side and near-north suburbs. The tracks are around 20 feet above the ground, but neither train derailed.

For reasons not immediately clear, one train was stopped on the tracks between stations when the other train, rounding a curve at no more than 6 mph, struck it from behind at about 9 a.m., said Frank Kruesi, president of the Chicago Transit Authority.

Both trains were in communications with their control center and should be have been able to see each other, Kruesi said.

"It shouldn't have happened. We're trying to find out why it happened," Kruesi said.

After the accident, passengers could be seen standing in the open doors of the trains while rescuers with ladders helped them down to the street below. By late morning, the trains involved in the crash were moved to a nearby station so more passengers could be removed.

One witness who broke her nose when she was thrown forward by the impact said it resembled a "bad car accident."

Witnesses said the collision sounded like a loud crash or explosion.

"We heard this explosion and came out and saw a lot of smoke billowing out" from the trains, a nearby office worker said told WGN-TV.

Other trains were stalled on the lines and left powerless for more than an hour after the accident, leaving hundreds of commuters to swelter in packed cars with no air conditioning. The line was reopened late in the morning, Kruesi said.