Bay Ridge

Donovan safe after train carrying GOP lawmakers crashes

January 31, 2018 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan was uninjured in the tragic train crash in Virginia Wednesday morning. Photo courtesy of Donovan’s office
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U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan was among dozens of Republican lawmakers on an Amtrak train that crashed in Virginia Wednesday morning, according to his spokeswoman, who said the congressman was not injured in the accident. 

“The congressman was on the train, but he is safe,” spokeswoman Alexia Sikora told the Brooklyn Eagle via email.

Donovan (R-C-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn-Staten Island) quickly sought to reassure his constituents that he was unhurt. 

“Thanks to all who have reached out to my office following the train collision. I am safe. First responders are on the scene and medical care is being administered to those in need of it,” he wrote on Twitter within an hour of the collision. 

Donovan is the lone Republican in the New York City congressional delegation.

The accident took place near Crozet, Virginia at approximately 11:20 a.m., according to The Washington Post, which reported that the Amtrak train carrying Republican senators and House collided with a truck.

The GOP lawmakers were on their way from Washington, D.C., to a Republican retreat in West Virginia. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are scheduled to speak at the retreat.

The Post, citing congressional sources, reported that one person was killed in the crash and two people were injured, but that none of the injuries involved passengers on the train.

“We appear to have hit a garbage truck,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who was aboard the train, told the Washington Post via telephone. “It looks like it’s been maybe cut in half. We can see garbage strewn around and we can see the back half of the truck. There was a feeling of an impact and you could feel we had hit something. It took us maybe a quarter mile to stop.”

 

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