Virginia Amtrak Crash: Train Carrying GOP Reps Hits Truck; 1 Dead

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA — An Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress to a party retreat crashed into a truck Wednesday in Virginia, causing minor injuries onboard, killing one passenger on the truck and injuring the driver and a second passenger, according to authorities.

The White House said there were no serious injuries among members of Congress or their staff. Amtrak said two crew members and three passengers suffered minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital. Among the injured was a congressman from Minnesota who was checked out and discharged from a local hospital per standard concussion protocol.

Albemarle County Police identified the truck passenger who was killed as 28-year-old Christopher Foley. A second passenger was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition while the driver of the truck was transported via road in serious condition, police said.

The train crash happened west of Crozet, Virginia, about 15 miles from Charlottesville. The GOP retreat was scheduled to take place at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The annual event is scheduled to last three days and will feature speeches from Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Charter buses transported Republicans to the retreat. White Sulphur Springs is roughly a two-hour drive from Crozet.

At a press conference Wednesday night, the National Transportation Safety Board said a multi disciplinary team of experts would investigate the crash to understand what happened and why. The NTSB said it would be making recommendations based on the results of the investigation but would not speculate on the cause of the crash before the investigation was complete.

The NTSB said it did know whether the part of the track where the crash happened was equipped with positive train control or PTC but they suspected that it was not. The NTSB also said that if they were to find any information to suggest the crash was intentional, they would turn over the information to the FBI.

Lawmakers on board rendered aid to the injured on the truck and one representative administered CPR on the truck driver.

Sen. Jeff Flake, of Arizona, along with Sen. Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana and Rep. Brad Wenstrup, of Ohio, helped carry one truck passenger to an ambulance, The Washington Post reported. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, of Georgia, told the Post the lawmakers “literally pried open the doors and jumped off the train to assist those injured."

Rep. Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas who is also a doctor, performed CPR on the truck driver and helped two people in the truck who were transported to an ambulance, he wrote on Twitter.

Other lawmakers took to Twitter to offer their condolences and say that they were ok following the crash. Rep. Jason Lewis, a Republican from Minnesota, was checked out at the hospital for signs of a concussion.

In a statement, Amtrak said the train came in contact with another vehicle around 11:20 a.m.

"It is premature to offer specific comment about this incident, however, it is clear that accidents at rail crossings nationwide are far too common," Amtrak said in an updated statement Wednesday night. "This is an opportunity to remind everyone about the importance of exercising caution around railroad rights-of-way. Amtrak continues to work closely with Operation Lifesaver to communicate the dangers of grade crossings. Each year, about 2,000 people are killed or injured in grade crossing and trespassing incidents nationwide."

Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, told The Washington Post that the truck looked like it had been cut in half.

"We can see garbage strewn around and we can see the back half of the truck," Lee told the paper. "There was a feeling of an impact and you could feel we had hit something. It took us maybe a quarter mile to stop.”

Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican from Florida, said in an interview with MSNBC that there was a sudden impact, a loud noise and everyone was jolted.

"It was just uncomfortable for a few minutes and as we started realizing that everyone was OK I think that people started feeling better," Curbelo said.

NBC News reported that House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was on board the train, was not injured.

"Today's incident was a terrible tragedy," Ryan said in a statement on Twitter. "We are grateful for the first responders who rushed to the scene and we pray for the victims and their families. May they all be in our thoughts right now."

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement on the crash, offering condolences to the victim's family, friends and coworkers.

SEE ALSO: Virginia Train Crash: The Worst Amtrak Crashes In History

Patch has compiled a list of GOP representatives on board the train. According to Patch's tally, over 100 GOP lawmakers were on board the train. We will update this list as we hear of more members of Congress who were on board.

1. Kansas Rep Roger Marshall
2. Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne
3. Tennessee Rep. Phil Roe
4. Florida Rep. Daniel Webster
5. Florida Rep. Chris Curbelo
6. New York Rep. Dan Donovan
7. New York Rep. Lee Zeldin
8. Texas Rep. Michael. Burgess
9. Ohio Rep. Rep. Brad Wenstrup
10. Texas Rep Michael Williams
11. Texas Rep. Pete Sessions
12. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
13. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy
14. Oregon Rep. Greg Walden
15. California Rep. Jeff Denham
16. Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry
17. Florida Rep. Ted Yoho
18. Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy
19. Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman
20. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan
21. Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt
22. Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole
23. Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick
24. New York Rep. John Faso
25. MIssouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler
26. Georgia Rep. Rick Allen
27. Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter
28. Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson
29. Georgia Rep. Jody Hice
30. Georgia Rep. Austin Scott
31. Illinois Rep Mike Bost
32. New Jersey Rep. Leonard Lance
33. Indiana Rep. Mike Bost
34. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake
35. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman
36. Texas Rep. Michael McCaul
37. Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon
38. Illinois Rep. Randy Hultgren
39. Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam
40. Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman
41. North Carolina Rep. Robert Pittenger
42. Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry
43. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis
44. North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson
45. Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon
46. Kentucky Rep. James Comer
47. Pennsylvania Rep. Keith Rothfus
48. New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur
49. Minnesota Rep. Jason Lewis
50. Arizona Rep. Martha McSally
51. Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar
52. Arizona Rep. Dave Schweikert
53. Arkansas Rep. French Hill
54. Michigan Rep. Fred Upton
55. Michigan Rep. John Moolenar
56. Michigan Rep. Paul Mitchell
57. Michigan Rep. Mike Bishop
58. Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg
59. Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga
60. Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks
61. Kansas Rep. Ron Estes
62. Texas Rep. John Culberson
63. Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack
64. Texas Rep. Bill Flores
65. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst
66. Iowa Rep. Steve King
67. Iowa Rep. David Young
68. Indiana Sen. Todd Young
69. South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds
70. West Virginia Rep. Alex Mooney
71. Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts
72. Montana Sen. Steve Daines
73. Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford
74. North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker
75. California Rep. Ed Royce
76. Tennessee Rep. Chuch Fleischmann
77. Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
78. Georgia Rep. Karen Handel
79. Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert
80. Georgia Rep. Barry LouderMilk
81. Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers
82. Texas Rep. Brian Babin
83. North Dakota Rep. Kevin Kramer
84. Alabama Rep. Martha Roby
85. Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers
86. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan
87. Ohio Rep. Bob Latta
88. Texas Rep. Mike Conaway
89. New York Rep. John Katko
90. Maine Rep. Bruce Poliquin
91. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan
92. Minnesota Rep. Erik Paulsen
93. Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis
94. Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador
95. Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr
96. California Rep. David Valadao
97. California Rep. Ken Calvert
98. Colorado Rep. Scott Tipton
99. Texas Rep. Kevin Brady
100. Texas Rep. Pete Olson
101. Mississippi Rep. Gregg Harper
102. Florida Rep. Neal Dunn
103. Texas Rep. John Carter
104. Florida Rep. Brian Mast
105. California Rep. Steve Knight
106. California Rep. Dana Rohrbacher
107. California Rep. Mimi Walters
108. Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer
109. South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice
110. South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson
111. North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry
112. North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx
113. North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd
114. Tennessee Rep. David Kustoff
115. New York Rep. Gary Palmer
116. Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford
117. Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman
118. Arkansas Sen. John Boozman

"Just learned of the crash involving the train carrying Republican Members of Congress to their retreat today," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Twitter. "Praying that all are well both on the train and off."

The crash happened just a day after Trump delivered his first State of the Union speech, addressing a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill. Republicans were headed to the party retreat where they will focus on the upcoming midterm election, according to a schedule obtained by Politico. Republicans face a tough midterm election as Democrats riding on anti-Trump sentiment and unpopular GOP policies are aiming to take back control of at least one of the chambers of Congress. Several prominent Republicans have announced that they will not seek reelection with Rep. Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina representative who led the House Benghazi inquiry, being the latest to announce his retirement.

Just seven months ago, a shooting at a GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, critically injured Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise. At Tuesday's State of the Union, Scalise was honored by Trump and received a standing ovation.

Dan Hampton and Colin Miner contributed reporting.

Patch will update this breaking news story.

Images 1 and 2 courtesy Rep. Greg Walden, third photo courtesy Rachael Bade, used with permission