A Boy Scout tried to help truck driver hit in Amtrak train derailment

Eli and 14 other Boy Scouts had spent 10 days exploring the backcountry of New Mexico, mostly by backpacking through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and were on their way home to Appleton, Wis., said Dan Skrypczak, Eli’s father and the scoutmaster of Appleton Troop 73.

Each of the Scouts was whiling away the train ride in his own way, Skrypczak told The Washington Post late Tuesday. A few had used an app on their phone to determine the train was going about 90 mph, which impressed them. Some ate in the dining car. Others took in the scenery from an observation car retrofitted with floor-to-ceiling windows. One happened to be in the bathroom.

At 12:43 p.m., “a giant jolt” awakened Eli, who was in his seat. There was twisting metal and loud creaking. He smelled diesel. Then, his train car overturned onto its side, causing Eli to fall onto fellow Scouts who had been sitting across the aisle on the side of the train that had become the new floor.

Dan Skrypczak, 46, who was not on the train, said his son told him that “people started to panic.”

The Amtrak train had hit a dump truck at a road crossing near Mendon, derailing two locomotives and nearly every train car, The Post reported. Heading from Los Angeles to Chicago along Amtrak’s Southwest Chief line, the train was carrying 275 passengers and 12 crew members, according to Amtrak.

At least four people were killed and more than 100 were injured, The Post reported. On Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board said it had dispatched a 16-member team to investigate.

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The collision caused some of the Scouts from Wisconsin to lose their phones, AirPods and even their shoes, Skrypczak said. Eli and the others collected their wits, made sure they were all accounted for and started helping people.

“The adrenaline kicked in, and something took over and I knew what to do,” Eli told WITI. “It was unreal. It still doesn’t seem real to me.”

First, the Scouts secured passengers who seemed like they might have spinal cord injuries, his father told The Post. Then, they started popping out the train car’s emergency windows. When some became stuck, the Scouts used their shirts for protection and broke the glass. They evacuated everyone they could.

They were “getting people out of windows and carrying them down,” Eli told the Milwaukee-based TV station. “I had to carry a couple kids in my arms, two at a time.”

After that, Eli ran to the front of the train to see if anyone was injured, his father told The Post. He learned the train had hit a vehicle when he saw wheels or an axle near the tracks. Then, in a ditch, he spotted a man who turned out…