25 KNOWN DEAD, 120 INJURED AS TRAIN CARRYING BASEBALL FANS IS WRECKED.

3 CARS ROLL INTO RIVER NEAR HARRISBURG, PA.

Steelton, Pa. (AP) -- A Pennsylvania Railroad special loaded with baseball fans jumped the track alongside the Susquehanna River Saturday night. The last three cars rolled down a 40-foot embankment into the water.
There were 25 known deaths, and another 120 injured reported by area hospitals. Many were children.
State police said it was possible there might be other bodies in the river.
The three cars which rolled into the river were the only ones in the nine-unit train which carried passengers.
Because of the extended drought the Susquehanna, one of the East's major streams, was only about three feet deep as it ran through this hamlet about seven miles from Harrisburg.
In all five cars derailed, but two of them remained upright.
IRA MARKLEY, 64, of Lancaster, Pa., conductor of the train, said he was in an empty car when he felt it wobble. He looked out of the window and saw the last three cars whip off the rails and tumble down the bank.
"It happened so fast there was no way to tell what possibly could have happened," MARKLEY said. He, like the other railroad crewmen, was not hurt.
A railroad spokesman said many passengers were trapped in the cars standing in the water. Divers equipped for underwater work and carrying acetylene torches worked to free them.
There was no immediate explanation for the derailment.
The wreck tore up the Pennsylvania's main line track for 1,500 feet.
Smoke and fire could be seen for miles.
The baseball special left Harrisburg at 5 p.m. en route for the Philadelphia Phillies - Pittsburgh Pirates game in Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Helicopters from Olmsted Air Force Base, across the river from the scene, were pressed into service to ferry the injured to Harrisburg hospitals. Pleasure boats also maneuvered into position to help.
The first four cars of the special stayed on the track, and from all accounts, no one in these cars was hurt.
Many children were on the train, the railroad said.
It was the second PRR special train carrying sports fans to be wrecked within 18 months. Six persons were killed and 50 seriously injured in 1961 when an 11-car train from Philadelphia to Bowie Race Track derailed near the southern Maryland track. THe Interstate Commerce Commission blamed that wreck on excessive speed.
Both Harrisburg Polyclinic Hospital and the Harrisburg Hospital reported their facilities were taxed with injured.
Polyclinic said there were 16 bodies there and Harrisburg Hospital said there was one body there.
A railroad spokesman said the train carried a crew of five, but an exact count of the passengers aboard was not available.
It was a gay group that set out from Harrisburg at 5 p.m. They came from Harrisburg and central Pennsylvania cities around there.
Steelton was to be the first stop, and the train pulled in there at 5:07 p.m. to pick up additional passengers for the 90-mile run to Philadelphia.
A 27-man naval drill team returning to Bainbridge, Md., Naval Station, saw the wreck from a nearby highway as their bus passed by.
"We ran from the bus to the scene," said MICHAEL PIERCE, 20, seaman apprentice from Buffalo, N. Y.
"There was mass confusion. We could hear screaming and crying from the cars. None of us even thought of what we were doing. We plunged in and tried to clear everybody out."
PIERCE said he found a boy of about 8 alive but pinned by his leg under a window. The boy's father, dead, was beneath him.
"This poor little kid was crying and screaming," said PIERCE.
"I started talking baseball to him, trying to quiet him, and found out his name was ROBBIE," said PIERCE. "We finally got him out through one of the broken windows."
More than 100 ambulances were pressed into service, along with helicopters from the Air Force base. The scene is near the Bethlehem Steel plant, which is on the same side of the river as the Air Force base.
SHIRLEY SEIP, in her mid-20's, of Harrisburg, was one of those going to the game.
She and her friend, FAYE ROWAN, also of Harrisburg, were sitting in the last car.
"Suddenly we felt something shake and the car started to tumble back down the bank," said SHIRLEY.
"The next thing we knew we were in the aisle, on our hands and knees, crawling toward the door which connects the car with the one in front of it. The water already was in the aisle, When we reached the door a man helped us out."
SHIRLEY was interviewed at Harrisburg Hospital, where she was detained for X-rays of her shoulder. MISS ROWAN had cuts and bruises.
The railroad spokesman said the main line westbound was tied up and trains were rerouted over freight tracks. He said all other trains were running about an hour late.
The train carried 95 persons who had purchased tickets to the baseball game along with their fare. There also was a crew of five or six. The railroad said nine of the crewmen were hurt.
The others aboard apparently were railroad workers who were riding free of charge.

The Progress-Index Petersburg Virginia 1962-07-29

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Dead In Pensy Train Wreck Identified.
Harrisburg, Pa., July, 30 -- Here is the list of persons identified as killed in the train wreck at Steelton, Pa.:
B. MONROE HARMES, 706 Poplar St., Lancaster.
CLARENCE WETZLER, Monroe St., Steelton.
HELEN WAGNER, 58, 1712 Berryhill St., Harrisburg.
WILLIAM C. SHIELDS, 695 High St., Bressler, Steelton.
DONALD ANDERSON, 25, 245 S. Paxton St., Harrisburg.
JOHN P. HERMAN, 61, 3011 Walnut St., Harrisburg.
JANE LAUVER, Mexico, Pa.
NICK CRISSMAN, Millerstown, Pa.
CHARLES W. HALL, 9 Essex Rd., Camp Hill.
PHYLLIS M. HALL, 9 Essex Rd., Camp Hill.
MRS. RUTH CRISSMAN, 39, 34 Locust Alley, Millerstown.
DAVID BUCHANAN, 18, 395 Eighth St., Selinsgrove.
MILDRED MENTZER, 1016 S. Cameron St., Harrisburg.
GREGORY McLAREN, 12, 2700 Boas St., Harrisburg.
MARY D. HERSH, 65, of 214 Moore St., Darby, Pa.
MRS. GERTRUDE BECWITH, 76, 2700 Boas St., Harrisburg.
ROBERT C. KENNEDY, 2726 Butler St., Penbrook, Harrisburg.
MRS. FLORENCE MARK, 67, Mifflinburg.
ROSE CRISSMAN, 18, Millerstown.

The Daily News Huntingdon Pennsylvania 1962-07-30
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!