FALLON, NV - Nevada officials said Saturday that investigators had confirmed six deaths after a semi truck slammed into an Amtrak train a day earlier on a rural Nevada highway.
The Churchill County Sheriff's Office said in a release late Saturday that officials were working to confirm the victims' identities and notify family members.
Amtrak's California Zephyr was en route from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., with some 200 passengers and 14 crew members when the accident occurred late Friday morning about 300 miles east of its destination.
Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Lopez said that the truck driver and an Amtrak conductor were among the confirmed dead in the crash. About 20 people were injured and able to escape.
Earl Weener, of the National Transportation Safety Board, also said late Saturday at a news conference in Spark, Nev., that about 28 people remained unaccounted for, but he added that some passengers may have gotten off the train before the accident or been able to leave the scene and not informed authorities.
Sixteen National Transportation Safety Board investigators took over at the scene Saturday and are expected to take up to a year to pinpoint the cause of the crash.
Reno Gazette-Journal