(Ted Cammarata)
An Amtrak passenger train collided with a tractor trailer on the tracks in North Carolina Monday afternoon, with several injuries reported.
Transportation officials told the Associated Press 55 people suffered non-life threatening injuries.
"The North Carolina Department of Transportation is continuing to assist Amtrak with the train accident in Halifax County," Transportation Secretary Tony Tata said. "We are relieved that there are no fatalities reported at this time, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured. Safety is always our top priority, and we continue to urge everyone to use extreme caution and stay alert when crossing our railroad tracks."
"There was a massive jerk and we were kind of thrown forward a little bit, and the train came to a sudden stop," she told the station. "I couldn't tell you if it was trying to slow down or not. There was no whistle. It came completely out of the blue," Charlotte Story, who was riding in the train's seventh car, told WRAL
An NTSB official told Fox News that information is still being gathered on the collision.
WTVD images showed the train's overturned engines and a passenger car off the tracks at an angle.
The northbound Carolinian was traveling from Charlotte to New York City at the time of the collision. The crossing involved in this incident is equipped with gates and railroad-preempted traffic signals at the intersection of U.S. 301 and N.C. 903.
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