'Absolute Disastrous Mess': At Least 7 People Killed, Over 140 Injured in Amtrak Train Derailment in Philadelphia; Mayor Calls Tragedy 'Unbelievable'

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Rescue workers search for victims in the wreckage of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania May 12, 2015. An Amtrak passenger train with more than 200 passengers on board derailed in north Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least five people and injuring more than 50 others, several of them critically, authorities said. Authorities said they had no idea what caused the train wreck, which left some demolished rail cars strewn upside down and on their sides in the city's Port Richmond neighborhood along the Delaware River. | (Photo: Reuters/Bryan Woolston)

At least seven people are reported to have been killed and over 140 injured late on Tuesday when an Amtrak train carrying 238 passengers and five Amtrak employees derailed outside of Philadelphia and rolled onto its side. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called the scene of the crash an "absolute disastrous mess," the likes of which he had never seen before.

"It is an absolute disastrous mess," Nutter told reporters Wednesday morning, Fox News reported. "Never seen anything like this in my life."

Nutter added that not all of the passengers on the train had been accounted for.

"It is a devastating scene down there," he added. "We walked the entire length of the train area, and the engine completely separated from the rest of the train, and one of the cars is perpendicular to the rest of the cars. It's unbelievable."

Amtrak revealed in a statement on its website that Northeast Regional Train 188 derailed north of Philadelphia, and provided Amtrak Incident Hotline 800-523-9101 as a way for individuals to ask questions about friends and family on the train.

All seven cars derailed and came off the tracks near Frankford Junction on the 2000 block of Wheatsheaf Lane shortly after 9 p.m., authorities added, noting that the train was en route from Washinton, D.C. to New York.

Although only five people were initially reported to have been killed, Dr. Herbert Cushing, Chief Medical Officer at Temple University Hospital, confirmed that another patient died there as a result of his/her injuries, according to NBC Philadelphia. Eight others are still in critical condition, Cushing added.

Passengers who survived the derailment described the incident as very sudden.

"All of a sudden it felt like the brakes were hit hard and then our car," said passenger Michael Black. "We were third from the last, just slowly started going over to the side. I tried to just brace my arm against it and then just got off."

Emergency workers survey the remains of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania May 13, 2015. An Amtrak passenger train with more than 200 passengers on board derailed in north Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least five people and injuring more than 50 others, several of them critically, authorities said. Authorities said they had no idea what caused the train wreck, which left some demolished rail cars strewn upside down and on their sides in the city's Port Richmond neighborhood along the Delaware River. | (Photo: Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Another passenger, Daniel Wetrin, who was among more than a dozen people taken to an elementary school afterward, described the incident as "surreal."

"I think the fact that I walked off (the train) kind of made it even more surreal because a lot of people didn't walk off," Wetrin said.

"I walked off as if, like, I was in a movie. There were people standing around, people with bloody faces. There were people, chairs, tables mangled about in the compartment ... power cables all buckled down as you stepped off the train."

Officials said that they will be investigating the cause for the derailment.

"I've never seen anything so devastating," said Philadelphia Fire Department Deputy Commissioner Jesse Wilson. "They're in pretty bad shape. You can see that they're completely, completely derailed from the track. They've been destroyed completely. The aluminum shell has been destroyed and they've been overturned completely."