In what is being called by Philadelphia’s Mayor as an “absolute, disastrous mess” last night (May 12, 2015), an Amtrak train derailed reportedly leaving six people dead and nearly 150 more people hospitalized. Six of those reportedly are in critical condition and a representative from the Mayor’s office said that those who were able to leave the train are like “the walking wounded.” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials are on the scene investigating as well as rescue workers going through the mangled wreckage.
Witnesses report that everything went flying, including people, when the train incident occurred last night. Amtrak Northwest Regional Train 188 was traveling from Washington, D.C., headed to New York carrying 238 passengers and five crew members when it derailed about 9:30 p.m. in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia. All seven cars and the engine were derailed and in various stages of leaving the railroad tracks in what has been described as a mangled mess. Investigators are looking into what may have caused the incident. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter also said that he has never seen anything of such a disastrous level in his life.