Philadelphia: Amtrak Train Entirely Derails, All Seven Cars, "Twisted and Torn Like Tinfoil", One Reporter Declares It A "Massive Crime Scene"

6 Dead, 146 Injured



From CNN:

"It is an absolute, disastrous mess," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said of the crash site. "I've never seen anything like this in my life." Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 188 was traveling from Washington to New York when it derailed in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. 

The impact tore cars apart, sending seven of them flying from the tracks, and left the engine a mangled mess. 

"We have confirmed an engine and all seven cars derailed," a U.S. Department of Transportation representative told CNN on Wednesday, adding that the engine and two cars were left standing upright, three cars were tipped on their sides, and one was nearly flipped over on its roof. 

The seventh one is "leaning hard," they said. The northeast corridor, which reaches from Washington to Boston, is the busiest passenger line in the country, and the train was carrying 238 passengers and five crew members. The cause wasn't immediately known. 

"We do not know what happened here. We do not know why it happened," Nutter said. There was no indication the derailment was a result of an impact with another train, he said. 

So far, there's nothing to indicate the incident was an act of terrorism.

This reporter spontaneously referred to the derailment as a "Massive Crime Scene".

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