Amtrak train cars derail in Washington state; minor injuries

Train derails near Tacoma Four cars came loose from an Amtrak passenger train.

July 6 update from the Associated Press: Human error caused an Amtrak passenger train to derail as it headed north in Washington.

Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said Thursday the train failed to slow down to the 40 mph (64 km/hph) speed limit while approaching the Chambers Bay drawbridge. As a result, a special switch designed to avoid a catastrophe if the drawbridge is open as a train approaches was activated, sending the train off the track.

The train's engineer has been removed from his post, Graham said.

STEILACOOM, Wash. -- Several people suffered minor injuries after parts of an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Washington state, authorities said.

The locomotive and the baggage car of the Amtrak Cascades train derailed Sunday about 72 kilometres south of Seattle near the town of Steilacoom, Amtrak and the Pierce County sheriff's office said.

The train, which was carrying 267 passengers, derailed near the Chambers Bay golf course, which was the site of the 2015 U.S. Open.

Mitchell Crowley, of Redmond, told the Seattle Times that he was on one of the four cars that went off the track.

"I was in the farthest back, didn't go very far off the rails," the 18-year-old said. "I did get to have that exciting experience: Brake, brake, brake and tipping over."

Crowley said the car he was on tipped about 15 degrees.

All passengers were evacuated and provided with alternate transportation, the company said. The train runs between Vancouver, Canada, and Eugene-Springfield, Oregon.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation, Amtrak said.

The railroad tracks on which the locomotive derailed was reopened shortly before 6 p.m. for service at limited speeds, Amtrak said.

The Gig Harbor Police Department said one of its patrol boats was helping environment officials put in pollution-control booms to block fuel from the derailment from leaking into a nearby body of water. The department posted a photo Sunday afternoon on its Twitter account showing the work.