At the scene: Train carrying GOP lawmakers strikes garbage truck

Debris is scattered next to the track after an Amtrak train collided with a garbage truck in Crozet, Virginia, on Jan. 31, 2018. 

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake described feeling a “big impact” during the crash and then making his way to help one of the injured. He had been traveling with his wife and 18-year-old son in one of the front cars of the train.

“I knew there were going to be bad injuries, so I worked my way back thinking they might need people to help carry people to ambulances, and they did,” he said, calling the accident a “terrible scene.”

Emergency personnel at the scene. 

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that one person had died and another was seriously injured.

No members of Congress or their staff were hurt, she said.

The crossing where the crash occurred was equipped with flashing lights as well as gates on both sides of the track, sources told NBC News.

Emergency first responders and passengers carry one of the injured to an ambulance.

The wreckage of the garbage truck lies beside the Amtrak passenger train after the collision.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a Go-Team of investigators to the scene of the accident.

Passengers watch as emergency personnel work on the scene.

Flake said the front car of the train derailed during the crash.

The train was carrying House and Senate Republicans to the retreat in West Virginia when it hit the truck. 

"It was a sudden impact, a loud noise and everyone was jolted,” Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida said on MSNBC.

House Speaker Paul Ryan was on the train but was not injured, a source told NBC News. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was not on the train, a spokesperson said.

Related: Train carrying GOP Congress members hits garbage truck, one dead