3 firefighters and 12 passengers injured in train collision with fire truck in Florida
By Emma Tucker, CNN
(CNN) — Three firefighters and 12 passengers were injured when a train collided with a fire truck on an emergency call Saturday morning in Delray Beach, Florida, authorities said.
An investigation into the cause of the collision is now underway, led by the Delray Beach Police Department, officials from the train operator Brightline and the National Transportation Safety Board, according to police. Brightline provides passenger rail service between Orlando and Miami.
The three Delray Beach firefighters were transported to a hospital where they remain in stable condition, officials said. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue assisted at the scene, bringing the passengers from the train to the hospital with minor injuries, according to police. There were no fatalities.
The National Transportation Safety Board is gathering factual information on the incident but has not yet launched an investigation, the agency told CNN.
The crash took place around 10:45 a.m., prompting a temporary shutdown of the roadway, police said. Authorities anticipate it will be reopened “once the investigation and any necessary cleanup are complete,” the statement said.
Delray Beach Fire Rescue had “a concurrent call for service just prior to this incident,” said Ronald Martin, the agency’s chief, at an afternoon news conference. He did not have information at the time on whether the fire truck was responding to that call.
Brightline started operations in South Florida in 2018, according to its website. The train collision Saturday is not the first incident involving a Brightline train since it expanded service to Orlando from South Florida in September 2023, according to CNN affiliate Spectrum News 13.
The Federal Railroad Administration found 34 people were killed in incidents involving Brightline trains from September of last year through June 2024 along the entire route from Orlando to Miami, the affiliate reported, citing federal data.
None of the incidents, however, have been blamed on Brightline, the report said. Brightline has a safety campaign that encourages people to sign its safety pledge online, which has garnered more than 45,000 pledges, according to its website.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.
