Mayor describes ‘disastrous’ scene with dozens more injured in train wreck on north-eastern service between Washington DC and New York

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

At least five people were killed and dozens more injured when an Amtrak passenger train crashed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

The Northeast Regional 188 service was carrying 243 people including five crew when it went off the rails between Washington DC and New York City. The front of the train was going into a turn when it started to shake, according to passengers.



The Philadelphia mayor, Michael Nutter, said five people had been killed. He described a “disastrous” scene after going down on to the tracks. Authorities said another six people were critically injured and 65 taken to hospital from the accident on what is a busy route between New York City and the US capital.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rescue workers search for victims in the wreckage of the derailed Amtrak train. Photograph: Bryan Woolston/Reuters

Several passengers were trapped and the fire department had to use hydraulics tools to get them out, according to officials. A secondary search was under way for anyone else still inside.



“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” said Mayor Nutter at a press conference held shortly before midnight. “We do not know what happened here.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The moment Amtrak passengers escape from train wreckage after crash in Philadelphia

A fire department officer described a number of “walking wounded” and said many of the passengers had been able to get out of the train by themselves. Some people were loaded into police vans and transported to hospitals, including Temple University hospital. As the emergency response ramped up there were about 120 firefighters and 200 police officers on the scene.

An Associated Press employee on the train said it went off the tracks. Paul Cheung says he was fortunate to be at the back of the train and the front of it “looks pretty bad” with numerous casualties.

Former congressman Patrick Murphy was on the train and said he helped people. He tweeted photos of firefighters assisting passengers in the wreckage.



Police swarming around the crash site in the Port Richmond area told people to get back away from the train and give first responders room to work. Roads all around the crash site were blocked off.

Several injured people, including one man complaining of neck pain, were rolled away on stretchers. Others were unsteady on their feet while walking away. An elderly woman was given oxygen.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest First responders climb into the train to rescue passengers. Photograph: Reuters

Janelle Richards, a producer for NBC Nightly News, was on the train, which was supposed to arrive in New York at 10.30pm. It derailed around 9.20 pm, Richards told NBC.



The cause of the crash was unknown. Amtrak said it would provide updates later. The National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday night it was gathering information.



Service was suspended on the Northeast Corridor service between New York and Philadelphia, Amtrak said.

Tom Wolf, the Pennsylvania governor, arrived on the scene in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “Anything that the state can do, we stand ready to do that,” he said. “You can count on the commonwealth.”

A passenger is carried away in a sling following the Amtrak train crash. Photograph: Paul Cheung/AP

Nutter, the Philadelphia mayor, said he had contacted mayors in Washington DC and New York due to the likelihood of passengers being from those centres.



Amtrak issued a statement saying the company was “deeply saddened by the loss of life from Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188”.

“Amtrak has also established a family assistance center to work closely with family and friends of individuals on the train.”

Northeast Corridor services between New York and Philadelphia remained suspended and a service plan for Wednesday 13 May would be announced later, Amtrak said.

Another Amtrak train crashed on Sunday. That train, bound for New Orleans, struck a flatbed truck at a railway crossing in Amite, killing the truck’s driver and injuring two people on the train.



In March at least 55 people were injured when an Amtrak train collided with a tractor-trailer that was stuck on the tracks in North Carolina.

Port Richmond, the site of Tuesday’s crash, is one of five neighborhoods in what is known as Philadelphia’s River Wards, located off the Delaware river.



• Those trying to locate passengers on the train are being told to call the Amtrak hotline: 1 800 523 9101. People in Philadelphia can do so in person by going to Webster Elementary School on 3400 Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia.