CHICAGO, Nov 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thirty-eight people were hurt, and 23 of them were taken to the hospital, when a CTA Yellow Line train hit a piece of snow removal equipment on the tracks at the Howard rail yard in Rogers Park.
The crash took place just after 10:30 a.m., as the train passed through the rail yard close to the Howard Street terminal above Howard and Paulina streets, according to Chicago Transit Authority officials. The two-car Yellow Line-Skokie Swift train was headed inbound from Skokie at the time it hit a piece of snow removal equipment.
The Fire Department said there were 31 passengers and seven CTA employees on the train. All of them were injured, and at one time, more than 15 ambulances were called to the scene to treat the injured.
The train rear-ended a snow fighter locomotive, which is used to clear the CTA tracks of snow during the winter, said Chicago Fire Department District Chief Robert Jurewicz.
The CTA has not explained why the machine was sharing the same track.
Chicago Fire Department officials said a total of 23 of those 38 people were taken to hospitals, including four children and seven CTA employees, and 15 others on the train refused medical treatment. Three people were taken to hospitals in serious-to-critical condition, nine were hospitalized in fair-to-serious condition, and 11 were taken to the hospital in good condition.
CFD Assistant Deputy Chief Keith Gray said none of the injuries was life-threatening. Most people suffered cuts, bumps, and bruises, with a few head injuries.
The victims ranged in age from about 2 to 72 years old. A total of four young children were taken to the hospital to be checked out.
One person operating the snow fighter machine was also seriously hurt, the Fire Department said.
It was not clear late Thursday how fast the train was moving at the time of the collision. But anyone who rides the ‘L’ knows there are no seatbelts, and people often even stand – holding onto the handrails.
Thus, when the impact occurred, it is safe to say some people were thrown abruptly.
In an unrelated incident a little over three hours after the train accident, a man was shot and killed near the Howard Red Line terminal. At 1:51 p.m., a man was in a quarrel with another person that turned physical in the 1600 block of West Howard Street, and the second person shot the man in the torso and killed him. — NNN-AGENCIES
