© 2026 ABC News

\"They were grabbing anything they could, towels, first aid kits. I did my best to stay out of the way. I'm not skilled in that manner,\" he said of the men helping at the scene.

\"PHOTO:
KOMO
PHOTO: People are seen close to the scene of the train derailment in Washington state, Dec. 18, 2017.
>

Mukai did not see the train come off the tracks but said his first thought was, \"Oh, my God.\"

\"Seeing a passenger train hanging from the overpass during regular morning traffic was pretty frightening,\" he said.

\"It’s very scary,\" Mukai told ABC News. \"I felt helpless knowing I wasn’t really able to help in that situation and I was hoping that emergency personnel would arrive as soon as possible and they did. They arrived very quickly, which made me hopeful, but knowing there would be injuries was just sad.\"

As far as he could tell, Mukai said, there were no traffic accidents because drivers did their best to avoid hitting one another despite wet and windy conditions.

\"[Drivers] acted pretty well to avoid one another. The train did appear to come into contact with vehicles on the freeway,\" he said.

\"PHOTO:
Pierce County Sheriffs Department
PHOTO: Emergency crews respond to the scene of a train derailment in Washington state, Dec. 18, 2017.
>

Mukai also said he has never seen a passenger train on the track. That’s because it was the first train carrying paying customers on a new route for Amtrak.

“Honestly, it's the first time I've ever seen a passenger train on that track. It runs parallel to I-5, going south there. It was a surprise to see it. There was nobody coming out of the train after the incident,” he recalled.

“I didn't see any injured from my vantage point when I first got there. As I was stuck in traffic due to the emergency vehicles -- they were bringing folks out on stretchers and back boards,” he added.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/US/amtrak-train-derailment-scary-scene-left-eyewitness-feeling/story?id=51862408","legacySlug":"/news/story/amtrak-train-derailment-scary-scene-left-eyewitness-feeling-51862408","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"18:11","publishDate":"12-18-2017","updatedTime":"18:20","updatedDate":"12-18-2017","socialImage":{"alt":"Emergency crews respond to the scene of a train derailment in Washington state, Dec. 18, 2017.","credit":"Washington State Police","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/train-derailment-ht-03-jpo-171218_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"12/18/2017 18:11:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":51862408,"headline":"Eyewitness describes 'very scary' derailment scene","mediaAssetTitle":"TRAIN WITNESSES","description":"Greg Mukai was on his way to work when he came to a sudden stop and saw smoke.","duration":"3:02","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/12/171218_komo_train_derail_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["133144263","132956835","132488083"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"May 20, 2026","headline":"Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","section":"News","slug":"/video/133144263","id":"133144263","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"May 14, 2026","headline":"Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","section":"News","slug":"/video/132956835","id":"132956835","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"April 29, 2026","headline":"Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","section":"News","slug":"/video/132488083","id":"132488083","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Eyewitness describes 'very scary' derailment scene","description":"Greg Mukai was on his way to work when he came to a sudden stop and saw smoke.","duration":"3:02","uploadDate":"12-18-2017","publication":"12-18-2017","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/12/171218_komo_train_derail_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2017/12/171218_komo_train_derail_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/amtrak-train-derailment-scary-scene-left-eyewitness-feeling-51862408"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Eyewitness describes 'very scary' derailment scene","pubTime":"13:11","pubDate":"12-18-2017","modTime":"13:20","modDate":"12-18-2017","taxonomyTags":"none","id":51862408,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Eyewitness describes 'very scary' derailment scene","mediaAssetTitle":"TRAIN WITNESSES","videoId":51862408,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/amtrak-train-derailment-scary-scene-left-eyewitness-feeling-51862408"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/51862408","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/51862408","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};