The train carrying members of Congress to a GOP policy retreat struck a garbage truck in Virginia and at least one person aboard the truck may be dead, according to multiple lawmakers on the train.
Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona told The Washington Post that there were three passengers on the truck, with one dead and two injured. Flake said he and other lawmakers carried one of the injured truck passengers to an ambulance with local medical personnel. Some accounts say there were two people on the truck.
Rep. Jason Lewis was among five people hospitalized after the accident. He suffered a concussion
Rep. Jason Lewis being stretchered off. He is reported to have suffered a concussion
Rep Jason Lewis
Rep. Roger Marshall of Kansas said the train “carrying members and spouses hit something,” WBAL-TV reported.
Marshall, a medical doctor, said he was treating the injured.
Republican members of Congress were on their way for a retreat at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, starting Wednesday and ending Friday. Vice President Mike Pence, who was not on the train, is scheduled to speak to members later Wednesday and President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the event tomorrow.
A spokeswoman for the Congressional Institute, which is sponsoring the retreat, confirmed to NBC News that there is one fatality, one personal critically injured, one member of Congress sent to the hospital and another being examined along with a staffer.
A GOP source was unsure how many members of Congress were on the train or how many people were hurt, according to CNN.
The source said members “hit the deck.”
Photo shows the garbage truck after the collision with an Amtrak train carrying Republican Congressmen at the crash site near Crozet, Virginia, Wednesday morning
The status of the truck driver was not immediately available.
Several members of Congress have medical training and assisted the injured.
Rep. Roger Marshall’s office says the Kansas congressman and doctor helped individuals who needed medical attention, including performing CPR on a train worker that his office understands was a train conductor.
Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to speak to members later Wednesday and President Trump is scheduled to address the event Thursday.
An aide confirmed Speaker Paul Ryan was on the train and is fine.
The train left from Union Station in Washington earlier Wednesday.
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