CHICAGO -- A packed commuter train rear-ended another on the elevated tracks during morning rush hour near the downtown Loop Friday, sending more than 140 people to hospitals and stranding thousands of commuters for hours.
Neither of the two six-car trains derailed. More than 1,200 passengers were on board during the collision. Dozens got off bloodied, bruised and frightened.
Most of those were taken to hospital with minor injuries, but a few were listed in serious condition. None had life-threatening injuries.
Other trains were stalled along the lines and left powerless for more than an hour after the accident, leaving commuters to swelter in packed cars with no air conditioning.
"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." Because of rush hour congestion, one of the trains 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.
"It shouldn't have happened. We're trying to find out why it happened," Kruesi said, adding both trains were in communications with their control center and should be have been able to see each other.
Drug and alcohol tests were given to the two train operators and the control center staff, standard procedure after a crash. None will operate trains or direct traffic until the transit authority determines what went wrong, Kruesi said.
Chicago Fire Department Chief Dennis Gualt said at least 141 people were taken to hospitals, the most serious with broken bones.
"There was a lot of whiplash and stuff like that," Chicago Fire Commissioner James Joyce said. "These people got bumped around, and they were plenty scared."
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.
On Feb. 4, 1977, a train rounding a curve rear-ended a stopped train at a North Side station. Four train cars toppled 20 feet to the street. Eleven people died and 183 were hurt, the worst crash in transit authority history.
Copyright © 2001 Associated Press.
