Post-collision Response and Cleanup
With a total passenger load of about 600 people, there was a great deal of confusion after the collision. Witnesses and neighbors ran to the smoking train and helped remove injured and dazed passengers, even before the first emergency vehicles could arrive at the rural location.
While many of the injured passengers were aided by nearby residents, some of the uninjured passengers wandered away, making it difficult for Amtrak to know the complete story.
Emergency personnel worked for many hours in the frigid cold, impeded as they were by the stainless-steel Amfleet cars' skin's resistance to the ordinary hydraulic rescue tools at their command, to extricate trapped passengers from the wreckage as helicopters and ambulances transported injured people to hospitals and trauma centers. It was over 10 hours after the collision before the final trapped persons were freed from the wreckage.
It was several days before the wrecked equipment was removed and the track and electrical propulsion system were returned to service.
Read more about this topic: 1987 Maryland Train Collision
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