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 scores of others, several of them critically, authorities said, Reuters reports.
Authorities said they had no idea what caused the train wreck at about 9:30 p.m. local time that left some rail cars mangled, ripped open and strewn upside down and on their sides in the city’s Port Richmond neighborhood along the Delaware River.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told a news conference that at least five people were killed in the accident. He later said 65 others were taken to area hospitals, six of them critically injured.
Philadelphia-area hospitals and health systems collectively reported taking in 135 patients from the wreck.
Amtrak said there were 238 passengers and five crew members aboard the derailed No. 188 train on route from Washington, D.C., to New York. Seven cars, including the engine, left the tracks, according to the mayor.
