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Hat saves Prosvect Hts. rider\by KURT BAERGerald Johnson, Prospect Heights, believes the wool cap he was wearing saved him from serious injury when he was thrown through a window of a CTA train involved in Friday’s crash that injured more than 340 persons.“I was standing at the very rear of the car reading a newspaper when all of a sudden there was a tremendous thud. I momentarily blacked out, and when I went to turn around I saw the window that looked like somebody had smashed it out with a baseball bat.“I think the thing that saved me from seeing my head totally split open was my hat.”JOHNSON’S SIX-CAR Jefferson Park train was stopped at the Addison Street station on Chicago’s Northwest side when it was slammed in the rear by a four-car train traveling south at 15 to 30 miles per hour on thesame track.Both trains were jammed with an estimated 600 riders heading to work in the Loop when the accident occurred at 8:15 a.m. Miraculously, no one was killed.But at least 340 persons were injured. Six of the injured required major surgery and are in serious condition at Northwest Hospital in Chicago where more than 160 crash victims,including Johnson, were taken.“The hospital was like walking into a slaughter house — bloodied people everywhere. I’m sure (the hospital) people did the best they could, but there was a. lot of confusion about who was going to do what,” said Johnson, who was later transferred to Northwest Community Hospital, Arlington Heights, where he is under observation for a possible concussion.IN A STATEMENT issued late Fri- 7 day, the CTA said its preliminary investigation showed “that the moving train was being operated manually because of an apparent malfunction of the automatic signal equipment of thelead car of this train.”The moving train was not supposed to stop at Addison Street but was onthe correct track when it rammed the back of the stopped train, the CTA said.The CTA, the Federal Railroad Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board began an immediate investigation. In addition, William J. Ronan, chairman of thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey will head a special investigation by industry experts, the CTA said.Johnson; who was in the first car of(Continued on Page 3)
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Herald
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Sat, Jan 10, 1976
Page 1
Full Page
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USA 24 Dec 2021
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