Train Derailment at O'Hare Leaves 30 Injured

According to nbc Chicago, Thirty-two people were injured — none seriously — when an eight-car Chicago Transit Authority train continued through the end of the platform and struck the escalators leading to the terminals at O'Hare International Airport early Monday morning.

"The train actually climbed over the last stop, jumped up on the sidewalk and then went up the stairs and escalators," Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Jose Santiago said of the crash, which happened just before 3 a.m. on the CTA's Blue Line.

He said it was immediately unknown if the train's motorman had some sort of medical problem prior to the crash but said that operator was walking, talking and answering questions afterward.

CTA spokesman Brian Steele, speaking to reporters at 5 a.m., said it was too early to say what caused the crash but said video footage was being reviewed and personnel were being interviewed. He said there were no immediate indications that equipment issues played a role in the crash.

The O'Hare station has three "pockets" for trains, and each has a bumping post at the end -- a large piece of metal with a shock absorber mechanism behind it, Steele explained.

"It appears as though the train would have been going faster than a train normally berthing at this station would be," he said. "Normally a train pulls in at just a couple miles and hour and pulls into the station. Obviously this train did not stop so speed could be a factor here."