Southwest Illinois man among those killed in deadly Montana Amtrak derailment
A metro-east man was among those confirmed dead after an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Montana over the weekend.
The sheriff’s office in Liberty County, Montana, where the derailment occurred, has identified the three people who died. Among them was Zachariah Schneider, 28, a resident of Fairview Heights.
The others were identified as Donald Varnadoe and Marjorie Varnadoe. The husband and wife from Georgia were aged 74 and 72.
Schneider was traveling to Oregon with his wife, Becca Schneider, 26, who issued a statement on her husband’s death.
“Zach Schneider was a funny, kind, compassionate, intelligent, and beautiful man,” she said. “He was an incredible husband, software developer, debate coach, and friend. He loved board games, bonfires, the Packers and good BBQ (especially from 17th Street). He was fiercely loved by his wife, family, friends, and pets, and will be dearly missed.”
A GoFundMe account to help with Schneider’s funeral costs met and exceeded organizers’ $20,000 goal within the first 24 hours online.
Schneider and the Varnadoes were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to the sheriff’s department. Several others were hospitalized.
The westbound Empire Builder was en route from Chicago to Seattle when it left the tracks about 4 p.m. Saturday near Joplin, a town of about 200.
The train was carrying about 141 passengers and 16 crew members and had two locomotives and 10 cars, eight of which derailed, Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said.
A 14-member team including investigators and specialists in railroad signals would look into the cause of the derailment on a BNSF Railway main track that involved no other trains or equipment, said National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Eric Weiss.
The accident scene is about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northeast of Helena and about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn expressed condolences to those who lost loved ones and said the company is working with the NTSB, Federal Railroad Administration and local law enforcement, sharing their “sense of urgency” to determine what happened.
“The NTSB will identify the cause or causes of this accident, and Amtrak commits to taking appropriate actions to prevent a similar accident in the future,” Flynn said in the statement.
Railroad safety expert David Clarke, director of the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Tennessee, said accident scene photos show the derailment occurred at or near a switch, which is where the railway goes from a single track to a double track.
Clarke said the two locomotives and two cars at the front of the train reached the split and continued on the main track, but the remaining eight cars derailed.
Most of those on the train were treated and released for their injuries, but five who were more seriously hurt remained at the Benefis Health System hospital in Great Falls, Montana, said Sarah Robbin, Liberty County emergency services coordinator. Two were in the intensive care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Another two people were at Logan Health, a hospital in Kalispell, Montana, spokeswoman Melody Sharpton said.
Robbin said emergency crews struggled without success to cut open cars with special tools, “so they did have to manually carry out many of the passengers that could not walk.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2021 at 9:17 PM.