An Amtrak train making the first-ever run along a new route hurtled off an overpass today near Tacoma and spilled some of its cars onto the highway below, killing at least three people, authorities said.
Authorities say there are three confirmed deaths in the train derailment outside Seattle.
City of DuPont Fire Chief Larry Creekmore also says more than 100 patients transported for treatment after the train went off the track and sent 13 cars onto a highway below.
A US official who was briefed on the investigation said earlier that at least six people were killed. It wasn't immediately clear how to reconcile the numbers.
The official was not authorised to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Authorities say all the train cars have been searched but they didn't know if everyone was accounted for.
Seventy-eight passengers and five crew members were aboard when the train derailed about 64km south of Seattle before 8am (5am NZT), Amtrak said.
The sheriff's office said several vehicles on Interstate 5 were struck by falling train cars and multiple motorists were injured. No fatalities of motorists were reported.
Chris Karnes was on the train, three or four cars back from the front.
"I'm not sure what got hit. I'm not sure what happened," Karnes said.
Medical tents were set up in the highway median just south of DuPont.
"The only car that is on the tracks is the rear locomotive. There are several cars that are hanging over the overpass," Karnes said.
In a statement, Amtrak said the train that derailed was Train 501, offering service from Seattle to Portland.
It left Seattle around 6am (3am NZT), according to an Amtrak schedule, and was due in Portland about 3.5 hours later.
All southbound lanes of I-5 were closed south of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and motorists were being warned to avoid the area.
The train was going 130km/h moments before the derailment, according to transitdocs.com, a website that maps Amtrak train locations and speeds using data from the railroad's train tracker app.
The maximum speed along the stretch of track, known as Point Defiance Bypass, is 127km/h according to information about the project posted online by the Washington State Department of Transportation.
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