Amtrak Train That Derailed, Killing At Least 6, Stopped In Baltimore
PHILADELPHIA (AP/WJZ) -- An Amtrak train headed to New York City derailed and crashed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least six people and injuring dozens of others.
Christie Ileto has more on the Baltimore impact.
Train 188, a Northeast Regional, was traveling from Washington, D.C. to New York City on Tuesday night when it derailed in the Port Richmond neighborhood. Amtrak officials confirm to WJZ that it did come through Baltimore around 8 p.m. .
Mayor Michael Nutter stressed at a late-night news conference that the death toll was preliminary and that six people were critically injured.
He called it "an absolute disastrous mess" and said he'd never seen anything like it."
An Associated Press employee, Paul Cheung, was on the train and said it appeared it went off the tracks. He said he was fortunate to be at the back of the train and the front of it "looks pretty bad." He said he saw "some people mangled up."
Police swarming around the crash site, in Port Richmond, a working-class area, told people to get back, away from the train. They pleaded with curious onlookers: "Do NOT go to scene of derailment. Please allow 1st responders room to work."
Roads all around the crash site were blocked off. Waves of firefighters continuing toward the train cars, taking people out.
One man complaining of neck pain was rolled away on a stretcher.
Former Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy was on the train:
<Im on @Amtrak train that just crashed. Imok. Helping others. Pray for those injured.
— Patrick J. Murphy (@PatrickMurphyPA) May 13, 2015
He tweeted this photo:
One woman tells WJZ she had just missed the train out of Baltimore's Penn Station.
"I had people call me in a panic wanting to make sure I hadn't taken that train because they knew I was taking a train this evening and I was going to take whatever was going out first," the woman said. "But luckily, I just missed it."
The cause is under investigation.
Amtrak says train service along the Northeast Corridor between New York and Philadelphia has been suspended.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday night it was gathering information about the derailment.
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's known as Philadelphia's River Wards, dense rowhouse neighborhoods located off the Delaware River.
If you are traveling or waiting for a traveler, check with Amtrak for info.
Anyone with questions about friends and family aboard the train should call 800-523-9101 for information.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
