A nine-car Amtrak train carrying 218 passengers from New Orleans to New York, N.Y. ran off the tracks while in South Carolina, late Sunday night into Monday morning the Associated Press reported.
"Heating, lighting and other systems were quickly re-established aboard the train, with meals and other refreshments provided to the passengers," Amtrak said in a statement according to AP.
Seven of the nine cars on train 20 became dismembered from the railroad, and hit the small rocks on either side. No serious injuries were reported, but four passengers were sent to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries to be examined.
"The car felt like it was about to flip over," Carrie Lambert, a passenger on the train told the Associated Press. "I was holding on to my brother for dear life," the Atlanta woman said. "Bags went everywhere. It was crazy. Really scary." Lambert was in the rear of the train as she felt it go off course.
The accident kept passengers stuck on the train for long periods of time in 20 degree weather.
"We're just sitting in the middle of the woods," Lambert told the AP.
Amtrak provided passengers with other transportation modes to other locations along the trip at 9 a.m. Monday. These included North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington D.C., according to Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods the AP reported. The train left New Orleans Sunday morning, and was expected in New York, N.Y., Monday afternoon.
Officials did not know the cause of the derailment. Amtrak, and Norfolk Southern Corp, which oversees the railroad where the accident happened, are further investigating its details. The Federal Railroad Administration is also assisting.
One of the two tracks was open Monday morning allowing other trains to travel along. Conductors, however operated trains slower than normal when approaching the scene, which has a 79 mph speed limit.
