Bridge Was Damaged Before Derailment

The collapsed bridge that caused an Amtrak train to derail in northwestern Arizona apparently was damaged before the train reached the flooded desert gully, officials said on Sunday.

The train engineer and assistant engineer both saw a dip in the track right before the engines hit the buckled rail, said Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Thirteen people remained hospitalized Sunday, including a man in critical but stable condition with back injuries. Most of the 116 people injured when the train derailed early Saturday were treated for minor injuries.

Gauges indicate that the train was traveling nearly 90 mph when it hit the buckled bridge, a speed that the railroad’s owner, Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, will no longer allow.

Crews reopened a westbound stretch of track that went over a trestle parallel to the one that buckled. It had been closed since the derailment early Saturday.