Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia, Killing at Least 6 and Injuring Dozens, Emergency workers here on Wednesday searched through the wreckage of a New York-bound Amtrak train that derailed and overturned late Tuesday, killing six people, injuring dozens more, and disrupting train service for thousands of riders in the Northeast region.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive in the morning and join officials from multiple other agencies trying to determine what caused the crash.
The train carrying 243 people was headed to New York from Washington when it derailed around 9:30 p.m., officials said late on Tuesday. Sixty-five people, including six who were in critical condition, were taken to hospitals, the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael A. Nutter, said.
“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Mr. Nutter said. “I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
After the crash, emergency workers carrying flashlights and ladders moved frantically from car to car helping passengers off the train, some bloodied, others dazed.Train cars are overturned,” the city fire commissioner, Derrick J. V. Sawyer, said. “They’re in horrible shape. There’s a bunch of debris down there, sharp objects. It’s a dangerous situation for responders, even more dangerous for the riders out there.”
The train had at least seven cars, including the engine, which separated from the rest, officials said. Six cars overturned. At least one looked as bent as a crumpled soda can, and parts of the damaged cars were so badly mangled that firefighters had to use hydraulic tools to rescue people trapped inside.
One of the cars struck a steel utility pole, and a stretch of bent and twisted track could be seen near the wreckage, indicating the sheer force of the crash.
Amtrak identified the train as Northeast Regional Train 188 and said it was carrying 238 passengers and five crew members. Most people were able to walk away from the crash site, Mr. Nutter said, but officials would not say whether all of the passengers and crew members had been evacuated.
“We need to match up the manifest with all the individuals who walked off,” Mr. Nutter, the mayor, said.
Early on Wednesday, Mr. Nutter said officials had still not accounted for everyone on board.
Injured passengers were taken from the scene in ambulances and on buses to hospitals. Aria Health, which has two hospitals nearby, said it had received 59 patients, including walk-ins. Maria Cerceo Slade, a spokeswoman, said most of the patients had minor injuries.
Outside Temple University Hospital, doctors and nurses waited for patients, who were rushed into the emergency room on stretchers and in wheelchairs. A hospital spokeswoman said she was not able to provide a patient count.
On Wednesday, Temple University Hospital said it had received 54 people from the wreck. Herbert E. Cushing, the chief medical officer, said one person died overnight from a massive chest injury, and 25 remained in the hospital, including eight people in critical condition. Most of the other patients had various types of fractures, he said.Officials said that the situation was under control and that they were beginning to notify passengers’ family members about their relatives. Most of the passengers did not live in Philadelphia, and they were most likely residents of Washington, New Jersey or New York, Mr. Nutter said.
The cause of the crash was not known. It occurred close to Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane, near a bend in the track. Mr. Nutter said it was too early to tell whether it had played a role in the crash or if there were other factors.
“We have no idea what kind of speed there we’re talking about,” Mr. Nutter said, or “what else happened out there.”
He added, “And I’m not going to speculate on that.”
Still, the derailment on Tuesday took place in roughly the same area of track that was the site of one of the nation’s deadliest rail accidents. On Labor Day in 1943, a 16-car Pennsylvania Railroad Congressional Limited train carrying military service members on leave derailed near the same curve, killing 79 people and injuring 117.
Officials concluded that a hot journal box had burned off and caused an axle to snap, which sent the train catapulting off the track.
Now, Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor are allowed to travel at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. But conductors are required to proceed at reduced speeds in urban and residential areas, such as where the derailment occurred.
The Northeast Corridor, which runs between Boston and Washington, is one of the railroad’s busiest and most profitable lines. But officials have long complained that the agency needs more subsidies from Congress to improve the railroad’s deteriorating infrastructure and replace aging equipment.
Amtrak canceled service between New York and Philadelphia, and modified three other routes. Officials said New Jersey Transit would honor Amtrak tickets between New York City and Trenton.Mr. Nutter said Amtrak service through Philadelphia would most likely be suspended for the rest of the week.
“It is completely wiped out down there,” he said.
The derailment prompted a large response from several federal, state and local agencies. More than 200 police officers and 120 firefighters went to the crash site, as did dozens of officials from the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies.
Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania said he was in contact with state and local officials and was closely monitoring the situation.
An Amtrak spokesman said an emergency hotline, 800-523-9101, had been set up for relatives of anyone who may have been on the train.
Passengers described the accident as having happened very suddenly, and said it sent people and luggage flying without warning.
Former Representative Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania, who served in Congress from 2007 to 2011, was on the train. He said on Twitter that he was helping fellow passengers, adding, “Pray for those injured.”At Penn Station, where the train had been scheduled to arrive at 10:34 p.m., stranded passengers flanked an Amtrak help desk as an employee repeated, “Service is canceled indefinitely.”
Amtrak employees said that New Jersey Transit would honor Amtrak tickets to several nearby stations, including Trenton. Other passengers tried to find alternate routes home on regional bus services like Megabus and BoltBus.
Into the early morning, train cancellations piled up, not just from Amtrak but also from New Jersey Transit and other services that use the same section of track that is now mangled.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive in the morning and join officials from multiple other agencies trying to determine what caused the crash.
The train carrying 243 people was headed to New York from Washington when it derailed around 9:30 p.m., officials said late on Tuesday. Sixty-five people, including six who were in critical condition, were taken to hospitals, the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael A. Nutter, said.
“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Mr. Nutter said. “I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
After the crash, emergency workers carrying flashlights and ladders moved frantically from car to car helping passengers off the train, some bloodied, others dazed.Train cars are overturned,” the city fire commissioner, Derrick J. V. Sawyer, said. “They’re in horrible shape. There’s a bunch of debris down there, sharp objects. It’s a dangerous situation for responders, even more dangerous for the riders out there.”
The train had at least seven cars, including the engine, which separated from the rest, officials said. Six cars overturned. At least one looked as bent as a crumpled soda can, and parts of the damaged cars were so badly mangled that firefighters had to use hydraulic tools to rescue people trapped inside.
One of the cars struck a steel utility pole, and a stretch of bent and twisted track could be seen near the wreckage, indicating the sheer force of the crash.
Amtrak identified the train as Northeast Regional Train 188 and said it was carrying 238 passengers and five crew members. Most people were able to walk away from the crash site, Mr. Nutter said, but officials would not say whether all of the passengers and crew members had been evacuated.
“We need to match up the manifest with all the individuals who walked off,” Mr. Nutter, the mayor, said.
Early on Wednesday, Mr. Nutter said officials had still not accounted for everyone on board.
Injured passengers were taken from the scene in ambulances and on buses to hospitals. Aria Health, which has two hospitals nearby, said it had received 59 patients, including walk-ins. Maria Cerceo Slade, a spokeswoman, said most of the patients had minor injuries.
Outside Temple University Hospital, doctors and nurses waited for patients, who were rushed into the emergency room on stretchers and in wheelchairs. A hospital spokeswoman said she was not able to provide a patient count.
On Wednesday, Temple University Hospital said it had received 54 people from the wreck. Herbert E. Cushing, the chief medical officer, said one person died overnight from a massive chest injury, and 25 remained in the hospital, including eight people in critical condition. Most of the other patients had various types of fractures, he said.Officials said that the situation was under control and that they were beginning to notify passengers’ family members about their relatives. Most of the passengers did not live in Philadelphia, and they were most likely residents of Washington, New Jersey or New York, Mr. Nutter said.
The cause of the crash was not known. It occurred close to Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane, near a bend in the track. Mr. Nutter said it was too early to tell whether it had played a role in the crash or if there were other factors.
“We have no idea what kind of speed there we’re talking about,” Mr. Nutter said, or “what else happened out there.”
He added, “And I’m not going to speculate on that.”
Still, the derailment on Tuesday took place in roughly the same area of track that was the site of one of the nation’s deadliest rail accidents. On Labor Day in 1943, a 16-car Pennsylvania Railroad Congressional Limited train carrying military service members on leave derailed near the same curve, killing 79 people and injuring 117.
Officials concluded that a hot journal box had burned off and caused an axle to snap, which sent the train catapulting off the track.
Now, Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor are allowed to travel at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. But conductors are required to proceed at reduced speeds in urban and residential areas, such as where the derailment occurred.
The Northeast Corridor, which runs between Boston and Washington, is one of the railroad’s busiest and most profitable lines. But officials have long complained that the agency needs more subsidies from Congress to improve the railroad’s deteriorating infrastructure and replace aging equipment.
Amtrak canceled service between New York and Philadelphia, and modified three other routes. Officials said New Jersey Transit would honor Amtrak tickets between New York City and Trenton.Mr. Nutter said Amtrak service through Philadelphia would most likely be suspended for the rest of the week.
“It is completely wiped out down there,” he said.
The derailment prompted a large response from several federal, state and local agencies. More than 200 police officers and 120 firefighters went to the crash site, as did dozens of officials from the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies.
Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania said he was in contact with state and local officials and was closely monitoring the situation.
An Amtrak spokesman said an emergency hotline, 800-523-9101, had been set up for relatives of anyone who may have been on the train.
Passengers described the accident as having happened very suddenly, and said it sent people and luggage flying without warning.
Former Representative Patrick J. Murphy of Pennsylvania, who served in Congress from 2007 to 2011, was on the train. He said on Twitter that he was helping fellow passengers, adding, “Pray for those injured.”At Penn Station, where the train had been scheduled to arrive at 10:34 p.m., stranded passengers flanked an Amtrak help desk as an employee repeated, “Service is canceled indefinitely.”
Amtrak employees said that New Jersey Transit would honor Amtrak tickets to several nearby stations, including Trenton. Other passengers tried to find alternate routes home on regional bus services like Megabus and BoltBus.
Into the early morning, train cancellations piled up, not just from Amtrak but also from New Jersey Transit and other services that use the same section of track that is now mangled.
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