PHILADELPHIA--At least five people were killed and dozens
injured when a northbound Amtrak train carrying 238 passengers to
New York derailed here Tuesday night in a violent wreck that
sheared the engine from the train and overturned cars full of
riders.
The engine and all seven cars of Northeast Regional Train 188
derailed at about 9:30 p.m. near a sharp curve in a section of the
corridor known as Frankford Junction, an Amtrak official said. The
train was carrying five crew members.
Six people were critically injured and dozens more were hurt,
officials said.
"It is an absolute disastrous mess," Philadelphia Mayor Michael
Nutter said at a news conference.
The train originated in Washington and was due in New York about
10:30 p.m. But shortly after leaving Philadelphia's 30th Street
Station, the train began to jerk and rock, passengers said.
"I was holding on to the table for dear life, and because of
force just got thrown to the other side of the car, head first into
the window, and my shoulder hit the guy who was there," former
Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Murphy, a passenger on the train, told
MSNBC. He was uninjured.
More than 120 firefighters and 200 police responded to the
chaotic scene that included several badly mangled railcars,
officials said.
One car was flipped nearly onto its roof, another was close to
toppled, and three were on their sides, the Federal Railroad
Administration said. The engine and two cars stayed upright.
Rescue workers used hydraulic tools to help some trapped
passengers escape from the wreckage, Mr. Nutter said.
The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known. The Amtrak
official declined to speculate on whether the train's speed
contributed to the derailment but noted the tight curve in the area
has a speed restriction of 55 miles an hour.
Train service was canceled for the night between Philadelphia
and New York, Amtrak said. Mayor Nutter said he expected it could
be shut down for the rest of the week.
Temple University Hospital, which has a trauma center, said it
had received 10 patients but didn't describe the extent of their
injuries. About 36 people were taken to Aria Health Frankford
hospital, while 23 people were taken to Aria Health Torresdale
hospital, a spokeswoman for Aria Health said.
Many of the patients at the Frankford campus walked in on their
own and had lacerations, she said. She didn't have details about
the Torresdale patients.
Hahnemann University Hospital received two patients, and
Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia said it received 10
patients.
The FRA said it was sending at least eight investigators to the
scene, including acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg. The National
Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter it planned an
investigation and would have a team on site by Wednesday morning,
and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Department of
Transportation officials were heading to the scene.
The crash occurred in the Port Richmond section of the city, a
mix of residential and industrial buildings along the Delaware
River. Mr. Nutter said the accident resulted in a four-alarm
response from area fire stations. He described the accident as a
Level 3 mass-casualty incident based on the number of people
involved.
The last crash of this magnitude along the heavily-traveled
Northeast Corridor occurred in 1987 near Baltimore, Maryland.
Sixteen people were killed when a Conrail train ignored signals and
collided with an Amtrak train. The accident sparked several safety
reforms.
Betsy Morris, Peter Loftus and Kris Maher contributed to this
article.
Write to Scott Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com and Andrew
Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
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