Chicago police said an empty commuter train could have been “deliberately set in motion” before it slammed into another train at the peak of rush hour Monday morning, sending 33 people to the hospital.
A law enforcement source said an empty train that was out of service rolled east onto the wrong track and slammed into a westbound train that was loading passengers on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Harlem stop at 7:47 a.m., ABC News reported.
A CTA spokeswoman said the victims’ injuries were relatively minor.
CBS Chicago initially reported authorities were investigating a possible hijacking. Suspicion was raised because the train that caused the crash only had four cars, whereas rush-hour trains have several more.
The source close to the case said authorities are investigating whether the train was “deliberately set in motion,” but they have no reason to believe it was terrorism related, ABC News reported.
“We have no indication at this point that there has been any criminal activity, but we are doing a thorough investigation,” CTA spokesman Ryan Steele said in the report. “Everything that is a possibility is being looked at.”
Forest Park Mayor Anthony Calderone said the accident was probably sue to some mechanical malfunction, but Robert Kelly, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, has his suspicions.
“For it to move this morning, someone possibly keyed up the train,” he told ABC News. “I have never seen a train just start up and start moving — ever.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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