At Least 7 Dead, 50 Injured After Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia
According to WCAU, at around 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday, an Amtrak train derailed eight to 10 of its cars in Philadelphia’s Frankford neighborhood. Officials say at least five were killed and around 50 more were injured when the train carrying approximately 243 people crashed.
WPVI-TV reports that several ambulances have been dispatched to the scene of the crash, which has been categorized as a third-alarm incident due to the number of rescue personnel involved.
Former Pennsylvania congressman Patrick J. Murphy tweets he was on the train during the crash and has shared photos showing a bloody, chaotic scene.
@Amtrak @msnbc @NBCNews pray for these passengers. pic.twitter.com/mksZNy7eqo
May 13, 2015
May 13, 2015
UPDATE 10:30 p.m.: Passengers have uploaded additional images of the scene immediately following the derailment to social media.
Was just on #Amtrak train that crashed pic.twitter.com/NSGh1ZfW1o
May 13, 2015
UPDATE 10:40 p.m.: NBC Nightly News producer Janelle Richards, who was on the train, gave WCAU a frightening first-hand account of the crash:
According to Richards, the train was supposed to arrive in New York at 10:30 p.m. Around 9:20 p.m. Richards heard a loud crash and people flew up in the air.
Richards says there was a lot of “jerking back and forth” and “a lot of smoke.” Richards also says she saw injured passengers who were bleeding.
UPDATE 11:45 p.m.: Amtrak has set up a toll-free hotline for friends and family of passengers that were on the train: 1-800-523-9101
UPDATE 11:50 p.m.: At a press conference Tuesday night, Mayor Michael Nutter confirmed that five people have died.
“This was an absolute disastrous mess,” said Nutter. “I have never seen anything like it in my life.”
UPDATE 12:25 a.m.: The NTSB, which investigates transportation accidents in the U.S., says it has dispatched a “go-team” that will arrive at the site of the crash Wednesday morning.
The Washington Post reports that while the cause of the derailment is not currently known, “it apparently occurred as the train entered a curve.”
UPDATE 05/13/15 7:45 a.m.: Amtrak has confirmed to the New York Times that Northeast Regional Train 188 was carrying 238 passengers; six died in the crash. “It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Philadelphia mayor Michael A. Nutter told the paper. “I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
UPDATE 5/13/2:05 pm: Workers discovered another body this afternoon in the wreckage from last night’s derailment, bringing the death toll from the crash to seven. Among the victims are a Navy Academy midshipman and an Associated Press video software architect.