Passengers describe fatal train crash
PHILADELPHIA: US Federal investigators said yesterday that preliminary data showed an Amtrak train in Philadelphia was travelling at more than 160km/h – twice the speed limit – when it derailed, killing seven people and injuring more than 200 on Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s disclosure came as investigators pored over video footage and data from the black box aboard the train. The board has said it was also focusing on the condition of the tracks and equipment, crew training and the performance of the five-person crew, in addition to the train’s speed.
Passenger rail service along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, the country’s busiest with 12 million passengers a year, was shut down after the accident at 9.30pm, leaving travellers scrambling for alternatives. The derailment snarled commuter rail services that share Amtrak tracks in the Philadelphia area and beyond.
About 15 hours after Amtrak No. 188 jumped the track, rescue workers sifted through the twisted metal and other debris. One of the seven cars landed upside down and three were tossed on their sides, while passengers and luggage were sent flying.
Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter said that seven people had been confirmed dead, but the authorities had not yet accounted for everyone. He said rescue teams expanded the search area out of fear that some victims may have been thrown from the train.
“What we have to do today is make sure we’re searching every car, every inch, every thousands of square feet to find individuals who may have been on that train,” Nutter said.
Hospitals in the area reported treating more than 200 people. The authorities believe 243 people were on board.
The wreck was the latest in a series of rail accidents on heavily travelled passenger train routes over the past year, raising new concerns about the country’s rail infrastructure.
One of the train’s passengers, a Ms Jorgensen, 27, was drinking red wine, when the train approached a sharp curve to the left.
But she didn’t feel the train move left. Instead, she said, it took a hard bank right, as if missing the curve on the track. There was a lot of shaking.
“I could tell it was coming off the tracks,” she said. “I bounced around a lot in the dark.”
She was thrown from her aisle seat across the train. “People were yelling,” she said.
“I was yelling. Time slows down. You see what’s happening, but there is nothing you can really do.”
The New York Times quoted another survivor, an unnamed woman, as saying: “I tasted dirt. It never tasted so lovely in my life – just to know that you were fine.” – Reuters