Boy Scouts helped administer first aid after their Amtrak train derailed in rural Missouri
Sixteen Boy Scouts from Appleton, Wisconsin, escaped serious injury Monday when the Amtrak train carrying them back from a trip to New Mexico derailed after striking a dump truck in rural Missouri.
No one in the group was seriously injured, said Scott Armstrong, director of national media relations for the Boy Scouts of America.
Adults in the group were bused to an area hospital to be examined after the crash.
The Scouts administered first aid to several injured passengers, including the driver of the dump truck, Armstrong said. A source confirmed to the USA Today Network that one of the scouts tried to comfort the truck driver before he died.
More: Fourth person dies after Amtrak derailment in Missouri; NTSB focuses on railroad crossing
Four people were killed in the crash; the fourth death was announced Tuesday. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said about 150 people taken to 10 area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious.
The scouts, from Appleton-based troops 12 and 73 and ranging in age from 13 to 17, were returning from a week-long "adventure trek," said Brian Robb, director of Field Service for the Bay-Lakes Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
He said two adults with the scouts were taken to hospital by ambulance.
"We're hoping (the injuries) are just minor, like broken ribs," Robb said.
The train, carrying 275 passengers and 12 crew, hit a dump truck that was on the tracks at a public crossing in Mendon, a rural part of north-central Missouri about 100 miles northwest of Columbia. Eight cars and two locomotives derailed, Amtrak said.
The scout troops are chartered with the first First English Lutheran Church of Appleton.
More: The Amtrak train derailment in Mendon, Missouri, killed four. Here's what else we know.
The scouts had been at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It's the largest scout ranch in the world, said Ralph Voelker, scout executive for the Bay-Lakes Council.
The train had been scheduled to continue to Chicago.
USA TODAY and The Associated Press contributed to this report
Contact Doug Schneider at (920) 431-8333, or DSchneid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGDougSchneider.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: After Amtrak derailment, Boy Scouts helped administer first aid
