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http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx ... 8726503001

JEFFERSON COUNTY - A trip to a child's amusement park turned into a dangerous emergency for over a dozen people on Wednesday.



The miniature train that has been a centerpiece at Tiny Town tipped over, sending 20 people who were on the train to four area hospitals, including Swedish Medical Center.

Swedish is reporting there are still three patients in serious condition, two adults and one child. As for the other patients that were taken to other area hospitals, 9NEWS is being told they were treated and released with injuries ranging from cuts to broken bones.

One witness says from the way the crash looked, she's grateful to hear the injuries weren't any worse.

Sara Richardson goes to Tiny Town so often with her two boys, that they are members. The "World Famous Tiny Town Railway," as it's called, has been running for more than 50 years.

Richardson and her family had just got off the train themselves, and minutes later they witnessed the crash.

"It started coasting, and it just was going too fast. When it hit the turn, it just careened, you know, and went off," she said.

She says it looked like the engineer was doing everything he could to stop the runaway train.

"It looked to me like engineer was trying to pull on a lever or crank something to get it stopped. He knew it was out of control," Richardson said.

Richarson and several other witnesses helped to pull the five tipped carts off the passengers.

"It was very chaotic. There were a lot of people bleeding with lacerations across their faces," she said.

The caboose was the only car to stay upright, and is where Richardson says most of the children were sitting. Patients were airlifted and carried out on stretchers to area hospitals.

9NEWS pulled the safety records of the Tiny Town trains. As a facility with amusement park rides, they are regulated by the state. From 2008 through this year, certified inspectors deemed the trains to be safe and in good working order.

Richardson says her boys might be shaken up by what they saw, but she says witnessing the accident won't keep them away.

"I believe they do everything that's required of them, and he did everything he could to stop it," she says.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department says they are still investigating how this happened. They expect an incident report to come out on Thursday.

According to a Tiny Town employee, Tiny Town will be closed Thursday and it is expected to reopen Friday.

Richardson says although this was bad, it could've been much worse. She says the train was only five to 10 feet from a bridge that runs over water.