One killed, several injured after train carrying GOP lawmakers crashes into truck

Feb. 01--A chartered train carrying dozens of GOP lawmakers slammed into a garbage truck Wednesday at a rural Virginia railroad crossing, killing one and injuring several others, including two Congressmen.

Witnesses described a grim accident scene where the stopped truck was horribly mangled before Republican politicians/physicians struggled in vain to save the dying's man life.

"I looked out the side of the window and then I could see a truck, just in pieces out the side of the window," said Rep. James Comer (R-Ken.)

"It was a garbage truck that was apparently, I would assume, trying to cross the tracks ... Just (left) in pieces."

Christopher Foley, 28, one of two passengers on the garbage truck, died in the crash, Albemarle police confirmed on Wednesday night.

The second passenger was airlifted to the University of Virginia Medica Center with critical injuries, while the driver was hospitalized in serious condition, police said. President Trump previously said the driver had been killed.

A pair of politicians, along with two train crew members, sustained minor injuries, according to Amtrak.

Authorities offered no immediate explanation for the stopped truck's presence on the tracks, although officials said the crossing was equipped with advance warning signs, two gate arms, flashing lights and a ringing alarm.

Politicians reported seeing the dead victim wrapped in a tarp near the scene of the 11:20 a.m. wreck in Crozet, Va. -- a town of 5,500 people in Virginia's wine region.

"It was a train going at a pretty good speed," said President Trump. "... The train accident was a tough one. A tremendous jolt."

Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), both doctors, "performed CPR on the garbage truck driver", Marshall said via Twitter.

Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), a former Army surgeon, recounted his efforts to help the victims.

"The first gentleman was somebody who had really, really, really devastating injuries," he said. "We did try to resuscitate, but ultimately you had to realize it wasn't possible."

The collision left trash scattered along the crash site about 125 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., where the wreck occurred.

"It was a pretty hard collision," Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) told CNN.

The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a team to the site for an investigation.

The lawmakers, some traveling with their spouses or kids, were headed for the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., home to Congressional Institute's annual retreat.

The event is scheduled to run Wednesday through Friday, and Trump said he will be there for his scheduled Thursday meeting with the group of close to 100 Republicans.

"We'll be together," he said after speaking with House Speaker Paul Ryan. "But it was a pretty rough hit."

At least two members of Congress were hurt in the wreck: Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) suffered injuries to his neck, back and foot in the collision as he walked to the bathroom.

"A little bit shaken up, and praying for all of my fellow colleagues," he tweeted.

And Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.) was treated and released for a concussion at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

"My thoughts are with the family of the individual who passed away," he wrote on Twitter.

Many of the GOP attendees boarded buses later in the afternoon to finish their trip, and Vice President Pence still planned to address the group later Wednesday.

"Today's incident was a terrible tragedy," tweeted Ryan, who escaped the wreck without injury.

The deadly intersection was a less-than-likely spot for a collision of any kind.

A federal report indicated that only five trains -- three in daylight and two at night -- pass through the intersection each day.

With Megan Cerullo

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