5 killed, 50 injured after Amtrak train derails in Philadelphia

onnaedo

May 13, 2015 10:18 AM

Over 50 people were rushed to the hospital having sustained injuries and 6 are reported to be in a critical condition.

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No fewer than 5 people are reported dead after an Amtrak train enroute New York derailed in Philadelphia.

Reports say over 243 people were on board Train 188 and about 10 carriages of the train went off the track in a suburb of Philadelphia, shortly after leaving the city's main station.

Also emergency officials and fire-fighters are reportedly at the scene looking for passengers who may be trapped in the wreckage.

Paul Cheung, who is an Associated Press employee and was on board the train said he was fortunate to be at the back of the train and the front of it "looks pretty bad".

He also said that just before the crash the train "started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake, then suddenly you could see everything starting to shake.. You could see people's stuff flying over me."

Another passenger on the train was Patrick Murphy, a former United States congressman, who tweeted that he was on the train when it crashed and asked people to pray for the injured.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter also described the accident scene as "devastating", adding that he'd "never seen anything like this in my life."

He also said that the engine was completely separated from the rest of the train and one of the cars perpendicular to the rest of the cars.

For now the cause of the derailment is unknown even as the National Transportation Safety Board said it was dispatching a team of investigators to the crash site.

onnaedo