DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: First, "</s>CNN 20": a fiery crash in the dead of night four years ago today.</s>LINDEN SOLES, CNN ANCHOR: Two passenger trains have collided in snowy rush hour conditions just outside Washington, D.C. So far, six people are confirmed dead. Officials say Amtrak's Capitol Limited heading for Chicago collided with a regional commuter train, the so- called MARC trains.</s>VITO MAGGIOLO, ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: I had actually just gotten home after a long day of work at CNN. My scanner put out the call and he said, report of a collision involving an Amtrak train with multiple injuries and fire at 1900 Littonsville (ph) road, which is only a few blocks from my house. I ran out of the house, and as I looked over the roof of my house I could see a column of black smoke, and I knew it was the real thing. So I got to the scene and it was chaotic. There were people carrying injured folks from the tracks.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sitting at the window and I hear the noise, it was so loud, and I look out the window and I see all this mushroom fire coming out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More flames than I've ever seen in my life.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I say.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was engulfed in flames.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of the dead and seriously injured were aboard the commuter train, although there were many minor injuries, too.</s>MAGGIOLO: You know, you cover stories, and I've been to a number of disasters, I've seen tragedy on a grand scale, but to have it that close to home and to be the first on the scene is quite an extraordinary moment. It was exciting, it was scary, it was -- it was sad.
CNN 20: MARC/Amtrak Collision, February 16, 1996