Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 16, 1994 TAG: 9407180149
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER NOTE: Below
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Zoo Choo jumped its tracks, tipping one car over, after the train entered a tunnel. Roanoke hospitals treated more than a dozen people for minor injuries. Roanoke Memorial spokeswoman Sally Ramie said late Friday afternoon that a 29-year-old man from Vinton had a deep cut on his leg and would likely be admitted. Most of the other injured passengers, several of whom were toddlers, were treated for scrapes and bruises.
Injured passenger Lynette Webb said the train wreck was just a "freak accident."
"The kids were having a ball, raising their arms like you do on a roller coaster," Webb said as a city rescue worker bandaged cuts on her legs and arms.
"They were just letting them go around a couple of extra times," she said. "We had gone around four times, and on the last time it just flipped."
Webb's four-year-old daughter, who was not seriously hurt, clutched a Teddy bear and screamed as her mother was bandaged, "Mom, don't go to the hospital; don't let them give you stitches."
Roanoke police officers consoled several young children who were in the wreck by giving them Teddy bears. Webb said it was fortunate that most of the children from a day camp were in the train's first two cars. The third car, which flipped on its side, was carrying adults and a few children.
The Roanoke Valley Jaycees have operated the Zoo Choo since 1953. Neither Jaycees President Greg Lyons nor zoo Director Beth Poff knew why the train derailed. City safety inspectors are investigating.
"I have no idea what happened," Lyons said. "This is not a good day."
by CNB