"Railroads have been the target of terrorists in the past. Just on Friday, the FBI released a bulletin that said devices that terrorists could use to derail trains were being stolen from facilities across the country. According to ABC News, sources said nine derailers, or equipment that are used to intentionally derail cars for safety reasons, were recently stolen from rail yards. What made these thefts unusual, the bulletin said, was the derailers served little purpose to those who worked outside the rail industry. The bulletin did not name a specific threat and did not indicate whether the thefts were directly related to terrorism." - Was The Amtrak Train Crash Terrorism? Authorities Say No, But There Have Been Intentional Derailments In The Past | "Between 2012 and this year, there were 4,065 derailments listed on the FRA's website, with causes ranging from human and equipment failure to debris on the tracks, floods and snow. Rails frequently are broken, cars improperly loaded and unbalanced, vandalism occurs and signals sometimes fail or are ignored." - Why Do Amtrak Trains Derail? | "Amtrak derailments have been increasing in recent years, according to the Federal Railroad Administration’s office of safety analysis. There were two in 2012, three in 2013, six in 2014, and there have been nine already this year so far. An Amtrak train derailed in North Carolina in March. An Amtrak train derailed in Massachusetts last June. An Amtrak train derailed in South Carolina the year before that. Philadelphia rail crash": Why do Amtrak trains derail with such frequency? | Obama’s "instincts are to govern from the left, treat Members of Congress as peasants who must bow before his superior wisdom, and then assail the motives and character of his opponents... The larger lesson is that polarization and division are never appealing qualities in a President, and eventually the ill-will and mistrust these tactics foment backfire on a leader." - Obama’s Trade Backfire

"Railroads have been the target of terrorists in the past. Just on Friday, the FBI released a bulletin that said devices that terrorists could use to derail trains were being stolen from facilities across the country. According to ABC News, sources said nine derailers, or equipment that are used to intentionally derail cars for safety reasons, were recently stolen from rail yards. What made these thefts unusual, the bulletin said, was the derailers served little purpose to those who worked outside the rail industry. The bulletin did not name a specific threat and did not indicate whether the thefts were directly related to terrorism." - Was The Amtrak Train Crash Terrorism? Authorities Say No, But There Have Been Intentional Derailments In The Past | "Between 2012 and this year, there were 4,065 derailments listed on the FRA's website, with causes ranging from human and equipment failure to debris on the tracks, floods and snow. Rails frequently are broken, cars improperly loaded and unbalanced, vandalism occurs and signals sometimes fail or are ignored." - Why Do Amtrak Trains Derail? | "Amtrak derailments have been increasing in recent years, according to the Federal Railroad Administration’s office of safety analysis. There were two in 2012, three in 2013, six in 2014, and there have been nine already this year so far. An Amtrak train derailed in North Carolina in March. An Amtrak train derailed in Massachusetts last June. An Amtrak train derailed in South Carolina the year before that. Philadelphia rail crash": Why do Amtrak trains derail with such frequency? | Obama’s "instincts are to govern from the left, treat Members of Congress as peasants who must bow before his superior wisdom, and then assail the motives and character of his opponents... The larger lesson is that polarization and division are never appealing qualities in a President, and eventually the ill-will and mistrust these tactics foment backfire on a leader." - Obama’s Trade Backfire - WSJ

May 13, 2015

Obama’s "instincts are to govern from the left, treat Members of Congress as peasants who must bow before his superior wisdom, and then assail the motives and character of his opponents...
The larger lesson is that polarization and division are never appealing qualities in a President, and eventually the ill-will and mistrust these tactics foment backfire on a leader."

Obama’s Trade Backfire - WSJ

____________________________________

"Railroads have been the target of terrorists in the past. Just on Friday, the FBI released a bulletin that said devices that terrorists could use to derail trains were being stolen from facilities across the country. According to ABC News, sources said nine derailers, or equipment that are used to intentionally derail cars for safety reasons, were recently stolen from rail yards. What made these thefts unusual, the bulletin said, was the derailers served little purpose to those who worked outside the rail industry. The bulletin did not name a specific threat and did not indicate whether the thefts were directly related to terrorism." -

Was The Amtrak Train Crash Terrorism? Authorities Say No, But There Have Been Intentional Derailments In The Past

Amtrak has suspended service on the Northeast corridor to clear wreckage, creating a massive jam for travelers on the heavily used line. Fox News reported Wednesday officials haven’t ruled out a terrorism attack but initial investigations haven’t given any indication of such.

Still, the FBI warned way back in 2003 of the possibility of terrorist organizations taking train tracks to launch a derailment. The Gateway Pundit referenced a 2003 memo from the federal law enforcement agency that read: “Devices that could be used by terrorists to derail trains are being stolen from rail facilities around the country, the FBI warned … Nine derailers, a piece of railroad equipment used to derail train cars for safety purposes in railyards have been stolen recently.” The FBI also said in 2003 “the theft of these items is strange since they are of little use outside of the rail industry.”

Amtrak engineer took curve at ’107 mph’

The FBI has found no indication of terrorism in the derailment of an Amtrak train outside Philadelphia that left six people dead and at least 60 injured.

FBI agents made the determination after examining the crash scene just north of Philadelphia’s 30 Street Station.

FBI rules out terrorism in Amtrak derailment

Amtrak derailments have been increasing in recent years, according to the Federal Railroad Administration’s office of safety analysis. There were two in 2012, three in 2013, six in 2014, and there have been nine already this year so far. An Amtrak train derailed in North Carolina in March. An Amtrak train derailed in Massachusetts last June. An Amtrak train derailed in South Carolina the year before that.

Philadelphia rail crash: Why do Amtrak trains derail with such frequency? - Americas - World

"Between 2012 and this year, there were 4,065 derailments listed on the
FRA's website
, with causes ranging from human and equipment failure to debris on the tracks, floods and snow.

Rails frequently are broken, cars improperly loaded and unbalanced, vandalism occurs and signals sometimes fail or are ignored." -

Why Do Amtrak Trains Derail?

The train derailed near a point where a 70 mph straight section turns into a 50 mph curve, but officials said they do not yet know whether the curve or the speed the train was to blame.

Investigators from the NTSB will be looking at factors including the track, speed, equipment, human performance and signals, board member Robert Sumwalt said at the press conference.

But 'the search and recovery attempt will take precedent over our investigation,' he said.

The train's engineer was injured in the crash but it has emerged that he declined to give a statement to investigators. -

2 Philadelphia Amtrak train derailment victims named as Justin Zemser and Jim Gaines

Amtrak Train That Derailed Was Going 100 M.P.H., Officials Say; 7 Killed
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 5:17 PM

CreditPatrick Semansky/Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least seven people, was barreling through a sharp turn at 100 miles an hour or more, at least twice the speed limit on that stretch of track, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The train’s speed was recorded in the “black box” data recorders that were recovered from the wreckage, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation, while emergency crews searched for more survivors and victims of a wreck that injured more than 200 people.

The recorders were taken to Amtrak’s operations center in Delaware to download information like the train’s speed, images from a video camera on the engine and a log of when the train’s operator used tools like the brake, throttle and horn, officials said at a news conference.

Passengers who emerged battered and bloodied described a chaotic, terrifying scene, with people thrown against walls, furniture and each other, and luggage and other loose items flying through the air and hitting people.

The wreck occurred as the New York-bound train made a sharp left turn at a railyard called Frankford Junction northeast of Center City, where multiple freight and passenger routes converge and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor makes one of its sharpest turns. The speed limit on that curve, in the Port Richmond section of the city, is 50 miles an hour, according to the Federal Railroad Administration, and on either side of the curve it is 70 m.p.h.

Robert Sumwalt, a safety board member, said during a news conference that the train was traveling 106 m.p.h. when the brakes were applied as the train was making a left-had curve.

Experts said the derailment might have been averted by a safety system called positive train control, that can, among other features, automatically reduce the speed of a train that is going too fast. To do that, the system must be installed on both the train and the route; the Amtrak train had it, but that stretch of track did not.

Railroads are under a congressional mandate to install the system on passenger routes and major freight lines by the end of the year, but they are seeking an extension because of the cost and complexity of the work. The Association of American Railroads said that operators have already spent $5 billion on positive train control, and still need to spend about the same amount to comply with the mandate.

Absence of positive train control was also cited as a factor in the fatal 2013 crash of a Metro-North train in the Bronx.

But even without the system, rail safety experts said Amtrak locomotives have multiple systems to alert train operators to excess speed, with warning lights and sound alarms.

“When you are depending entirely on a human being, the engineer in this case, then there is an opening for a human error and a tragedy like this one,” said Russ Quimby, a retired rail crash investigator with the safety board. “If you have no system to regulate the speed, then that’s the core failure.”

Mayor Michael A. Nutter of Philadelphia, at a news conference, refuted reports that the engineer who was driving the train had refused to speak to investigators. “The engineer was injured, received medical care, and was interviewed by the Philadelphia Police Department,” he said.

He confirmed reports that the death toll had reached seven, with more than 200 people injured, and said that for now, the focus of emergency crews combing through the twisted wreck was “making sure that we are searching every car, every inch, thousands of square feet, to find individuals that may have been on the train.”

“We are heartbroken at what has happened here,” he said. “We have not experienced anything like it in modern times.”

The names of the victims began to trickle out Wednesday afternoon. The United States Naval Academy confirmed that one of its midshipmen was among the dead, and family members identified him as Justin Zemser of Rockaway Beach, in Queens, a former student body president at Channel View High School.

“We’re not ready to talk yet. We are just grieving, and when we are ready we will be in touch,” said a relative, who did not want to be identified.

The Associated Press said that one of its employees, Jim Gaines, 48, a video software architect who lived in Plainsboro, N.J., was also killed.

Another victim was Rachel Jacobs, chief executive officer of ApprenNet, an education technology company in Philadelphia, whose co-workers spent most of the day Wednesday unsure of what had happened to her. A friend, Michelle Kedem, said she had received a text message from Ms. Jacobs’s family confirming her death.

Mr. Nutter said some passengers have not yet been found, but officials were still not sure how many. “We have not completely matched the manifest that we received from Amtrak with the patient or hospital records,” he said.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused a New York-bound Amtrak train to jump the tracks Tuesday night.

OPEN Graphic

People trying to find loved ones congregated first at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, then at a temporary aid station the city set up at an elementary school, and finally at the Marriott Hotel downtown, where Amtrak opened a family center.

Philadelphia’s director of emergency management, Samantha Phillips, said, “Our hospitals treated over 200 patients last night and this morning.”

The train, Northeast Regional Train 188, from Washington to New York, was pulled by an ACS-64 electric locomotive built by Siemens, a model first put into service last year that is capable of speeds up to 125 miles per hour.

It jumped the tracks at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, tossing around the passengers and crew, as most of the train’s seven passenger cars tumbled onto their sides and crumpled. One car was particularly badly mangled, looking like nothing so much as a crushed and torn soda can. One car struck a steel utility pole, and a stretch of bent and twisted track could be seen near the wreckage, indicating the sheer force of the crash.

Passengers described a quiet ride turned suddenly chaotic and terrifying.

“The guy next to me was unconscious, so I just kind of picked him up and slapped him in the face and said ‘Hey buddy, get up, get up,’ and he came to,” said Patrick J. Murphy, a former congressman from Pennsylvania, who was on the train.

The engine pulling the train separated from the passenger cars, left the tracks, rumbled through a dirt area and came to rest diagonally across other sets of tracks.

After the crash, emergency workers carrying flashlights and ladders moved frantically from car to car helping passengers off the train, some bloodied, others dazed. Parts of the damaged cars were so badly mangled that firefighters had to use hydraulic tools to rescue people trapped inside.

Amtrak reported that 238 passengers and five crew members were supposed to be on the train, but officials cautioned that those figures were inexact; off-duty Amtrak employees could have been aboard without appearing on passenger manifests, and people who bought tickets might have missed the train.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began to arrive before 5 a.m., said Robert Sumwalt, a board member, adding that they may be able to release more information on Wednesday afternoon. The F.B.I. was also investigating.

On Wednesday, a giant crane moved into position and began attempting to lift the damaged cars. The wreck severed Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, one of the nation’s busiest rail routes, and the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s commuter train line from Philadelphia to Trenton, stranding thousands of passengers and threatening to snarl travel for days or weeks to come.

Temple University Hospital received 54 patients from the wreck, including one who died overnight from a massive chest injury, Herbert E. Cushing, the chief medical officer, said Wednesday morning. He said that most of the patients suffered fractures from being thrown around the train, and that 25 remained in the hospital, including eight people in critical condition.

“There were lots of people from all around the world” among the injured, he said, including patients from Albania, India and Spain.

About 20 minutes before the crash, on the same line but a few miles away, “an unknown projectile” struck a SEPTA commuter train and damaged a window, an authority spokeswoman said. Mr. Nutter said that had “nothing to do with this incident.”

Amtrak service continued between Philadelphia and Washington on a modified schedule, but no trains were able to run between Philadelphia and New York.

The derailment took place in roughly the same area of track that was the site of one of the nation’s deadliest rail accidents. On Labor Day in 1943, a 16-car Pennsylvania Railroad Congressional Limited train carrying military service members on leave derailed near the same curve, killing 79 people and injuring 117.

Officials concluded that a hot journal box had burned off and caused an axle to snap, which sent the train catapulting off the track.

Correction: May 13, 2015

An earlier version of this article misstated, at one point, the day on which the train derailment occurred. It was on Tuesday, not Wednesday.

Read the whole story

· · · · · · · ·

FBI Warns of Train Derailment Threat
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 5:13 PM

ABC News: U.S.

Devices that could be used by terrorists to derail trains are being stolen from rail facilities around the country, the FBI warned today.

Nine derailers, a piece of railroad equipment used to derail train cars for safety purposes in railyards have been stolen recently, sources said, citing the FBI's weekly intelligence bulletin.

The theft of these items is strange since they are of little use outside of the rail industry, according to the bulletin.

Railroads have been targeted in the past by terrorists, the bulletin said.

It specifically mentioned the Oct. 1995 derailment of an Amtrak train in Hyder, Ariz. In that incident, one person was killed and 78 were injured when parts of the track were sabotaged. The FBI located a derail 50 miles from Hyder.

The bulletin does not mention a specific threat, and the FBI has no indication the derail thefts are related to terrorism. The bulletin is distributed weekly to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies around the United States.

The bureau has also warned in the past that railways and other mass conveyances could be terrorist targets.

Was The Amtrak Train Crash Terrorism? Authorities Say No, But There Have Been Intentional Derailments In The Past
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 5:12 PM

An Amtrak train heading to New York from Washington D.C. derailed and crashed in PhiladelphiaTuesday, killing five people and leaving at least 50 people injured, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said in a news conference. Authorities said there were 238 passengers and five crew members on board, and searches were ongoing for people still trapped inside the train. Officials have not yet indicated what caused the crash, but there are already questions of whether foul play was to blame.Was the Amtrak train crash terrorism? The FBI is on the scene and has said there is nothing so far that indicates the derailment was caused by an act of terrorism.

Railroads have been the target of terrorists in the past. Just on Friday, the FBI released a bulletin that said devices that terrorists could use to derail trains were being stolen from facilities across the country. According to ABC News, sources said nine derailers, or equipment that are used to intentionally derail cars for safety reasons, were recently stolen from rail yards. What made these thefts unusual, the bulletin said, was the derailers served little purpose to those who worked outside the rail industry. The bulletin did not name a specific threat and did not indicate whether the thefts were directly related to terrorism.

The FBI also announced Friday a $310,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrests of people responsible for derailing an Amtrak train in Palo Verde, Arizona in October 1995. There were 258 passengers on board, and the crash caused the death of Amtrak employee Mitchell Bates. The $310,000 reward was being provided by the FBI, Amtrak, and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Notes signed “Sons of Gestapo” were found along the site, and authorities at the time discovered railroad spikes had been removed prior to the crash. There has been no information about who the Sons of Gestapo were in two decades.

While preliminary reports indicate there was no terrorist involvement in the Amtrak crash in Philadelphia, railways and other modes of mass transportation have long been targets for terrorists. In this case, we’ll just have to wait until authorities figure out what exactly caused the crash.

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Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 5:11 PM

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2 Philadelphia Amtrak train derailment victims named as Justin Zemser and Jim Gaines
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 5:05 PM

News | Mail Online

Justin Zemser, 20, has been named as one of the victims by his mother; he was attending the U.S. Naval academy in Annapolis, Maryland and heading home to New York on leave when he was killed
Jim Gaines, 48, who designed video software for the Associated Press, was also killed as he headed home to New Jersey from meetings in Washington; he leaves behind a wife and two children
Families are also looking for tech CEO Rachel Jacobs, 39, and businessman Bob Gildersleeve, 45, who have not contacted their loved ones since the crash
Seven cars from Train 188 derailed near Philadelphia just after 9pm on Tuesday as it traveled from Washington D.C. with more than 240 people on board
Seven people have died, eight are in critical condition and more than 200 received medical treatment
Investigators confirmed on Wednesday that the train was traveling at 100 mph ahead of the derailment, while reports suggest ithad not been fitted with an advanced braking system that would have made it slow down
The train's engineer was injured and has declined to give a statement to investigators

By Lydia Warren For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 05:43 EST, 13 May 2015 | Updated: 15:43 EST, 13 May 2015

474 shares

A 20-year-old U.S. Naval Academy student who was heading home on leave and a 48-year-old father-of-two have been named as two of the passengers killed in last night's deadly Amtrak derailment - as investigators revealed that the train was traveling at 100 mph before the crash.

Justin Zemser, an only child, was traveling home to Rockaway Beach, New York to see his mother when the train came off the tracks at Frankford Junction near Philadelphia just before 9.30pm, killing at least seven people, leaving eight in critical condition and injuring more than 200.

Jim Gaines, who designed video software for the Associated Press, was also named among the victims. He had been attending meetings in Washington and was heading home to Plainsboro, New Jersey at the time of the crash, his wife, Jacqueline, said. They have two children, aged 11 and 16.

Friends have also expressed their fears for Rachel Jacobs, a 39-year-old tech CEO and married mother, who texted her husband to say she was on Train 188 ahead of the crash. Bob Gildersleeve, a 45-year-old businessman who was traveling from Baltimore to New York for work, is also missing.

On Wednesday afternoon, a Philadelphia police spokesman confirmed a seventh victim had been pulled from the wreckage. Four of the victims were found in the train, two were found outside and one - Mr Gaines - died at an area hospital, the Philadelphia Police Department said.

Hours after the crash, investigators swarmed the scene to find out what had caused the crash and this afternoon, the Transportation Safety Board confirmed on Twitter that 'preliminary data shows #Amtrak train speed exceeded 100 mph prior to derailment'.

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Loss: Justin Zemser, pictured left, and Jim Gaines, right, have been named as among the victims of Tuesday night's Amtrak rail crash

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Heartbreaking: Zemser, a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, was heading home to see his mother. He is an only child

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She had texted her husband, pictured right, on Tuesday evening to say she was on the train

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Have you seen them? Among the missing passengers are Bob Gildersleeve, left, and Rachel Jacobs, pictured right with her husband and their two year old. She had texted her husband on Tuesday evening to say she was on the train and has not contacted family since

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Devastating: An aerial view taken on Wednesday morning shows the Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia as it traveled from Washington D.C. to New York on Tuesday evening. Seven people have been confirmed dead, with hundreds more injured

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Tragic: An incredible aerial photo shows how the front car of the train (seen bottom, center) careened off the tracks while the second car apparently detached and was destroyed. The wreckage from this second car can be seen beside the tracks, right

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Off the tracks: The train, pictured Wednesday, is believed to have been traveling around a curve in the tracks when it derailed

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Fears: Search teams are looking to see if anyone is inside the overturned cars, including one which was completely destroyed

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Debris: Investigators look at the wreckage of the destroyed second car beside the tracks on Wednesday morning

The announcement came after the Associated Press analysed video of the train and discovered it was traveling at 107 mph as it approached a curve in the tracks, where the speed limit drops from 70 mph to 50 mph.

The video shows the train - which was roughly 662 feet long - passes the camera in just over five seconds. But AP found that the surveillance video plays back slightly slower than in real time. Adjusting for the slower playback puts the train's estimated speed at 107 miles per hour.

It has also emerged that the rail route was not governed by an advanced safety technology meant to prevent high-speed derailments.

Officials familiar with the investigation told Reuters that it had not yet been fitted with positive train control (PTC), which automatically slows or even halts trains that are moving too fast or heading into a danger zone. Under current law, the rail industry must adopt the technology by the end of the year.

Amtrak has begun installing components of a PTC system but the network is not yet functioning, federal officials said.

On Wednesday morning, the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland confirmed that one of their students was among the fatalities.

'The Naval Academy is deeply saddened to report that a midshipman was named as one of the passengers who lost their life in the AMTRAK train which crashed in north Philadelphia at approximately 9:30 p.m. last night,' it said in a statement.

AMTRAK HOTLINE

If you are looking for information about a loved one you believe was aboard the train, Amtrak asks you to call 1-800-523-9101

If you were a passenger on the train, please call the number so they know you are OK.

Justin's mother, Susan Zemser, confirmed his name to ABC News and said he was just finishing his second year at the academy. His body is being released to his family, who are Jewish, without an autopsy, the Yeshiva World News reported.

The Associated Press reported that the second victim, Jim Gaines, joined the AP in 1998 and led the agency's video initiatives. He won AP's 'Geek of the Month' award in May 2012 for his 'tireless dedication and contagious passion' to technological innovation, the company said.

Rachel Jacobs, who is still missing, was recently hired as the CEO of online learning tech start-up ApprenNet. She commuted to Philadelphia, where the team is based, twice a week from her home in Manhattan's Lower East Side, she said in a recent interview.

Around 8.45pm on Tuesday, she texted her husband to say that she was on the train heading back to New York. They have a two-year-old child.

'We called, texted and emailed her right when crash happened, because we knew she was on the train,' ApprenNet COO Emily Foote told PhillyMag. 'I went to the hospitals last night and she wasn't in any of them. I went to the churches and schools where people are being sheltered, and we still can't find her.'

Appeal: The 13-year-old son of missing businessman Bob Gildersleeve held up his dad's photo as he appealed for help finding him

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Appeal: The 13-year-old son of missing businessman Bob Gildersleeve held up his dad's photo as he appealed for help finding him

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Sadness: Susan Zemser, center, and Howard Zemser, left, the parents of U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman Justin Zemser, prepare to speak to the press outside their home in Rockaway Beach, New York on Wednesday. Their son was heading to see them when he died

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Survivor: A woman who was injured in the derailment is pictured at Penn Station in New York on Wednesday morning

Injured: A woman who escaped the derailed train wraps up in a Red Cross blanket as she is taken through Penn Station

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Injured: A woman who escaped the derailed train wraps up in a Red Cross blanket as she is taken through Penn Station

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Crash: On Wednesday morning, crews can be seen investigating the scene of the derailment in the Frankfort section of Philadelphia

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Horror: Investigators are looking into whether speed, a curve in the tracks or driver error contributed to the deadly crash

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Probe: Emergency personnel gather near the scene on Wednesday after investigators retrieved the train's 'black box' for analysis

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Search: Investigators examine the scene on Wednesday; they are looking at whether speed, equipment or the tracks played a role

Karl Okamoto, a friend and colleague, told CNN that Amtrak do not have Jacobs on their passenger list because her '10 pass' ticket meant she could get on any train without reserving a ticket. He said they have no record of her on the train.

Family are also appealing for information about Bob Gildersleeve, a married businessman on his way to New York for work. On Wednesday, his 13-year-old son passed out pictures of his dad as he asked for the public's help in finding him.

On Wednesday morning, Philadelphia Mayor Michael said at a press conference that not all injured people have been able to self-identify themselves, raising the possibility that she is in hospital.

At the press conference, authorities said that they have recovered the train's black box from the wreckage and it has been taken to the Amtrak operations center in Delaware for analysis. They have not yet received any data back.

The train derailed near a point where a 70 mph straight section turns into a 50 mph curve, but officials said they do not yet know whether the curve or the speed the train was to blame.

Investigators from the NTSB will be looking at factors including the track, speed, equipment, human performance and signals, board member Robert Sumwalt said at the press conference.

But 'the search and recovery attempt will take precedent over our investigation,' he said.

The train's engineer was injured in the crash but it has emerged that he declined to give a statement to investigators.

A family assistance center has been set up near the crash site and authorities are beginning the long process of matching up Amtrak's passenger records with the lists of people who were admitted to hospitals, the mayor said. Some of those people have not yet been identified.

Looking at the scene, 'it is amazing that so many people survived,' the mayor said. 'I saw people literally walking off that train last night and I don't know how they did it.'

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Team: Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and his emergency management team walk from the site to a press conference on Wednesday

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Update: At the press conference, the mayor confirmed that more than 200 people had been taken to hospital for treatment

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Cancellations: A board in Washington D.C.'s Union Station shows a number of cancelled trains following the crash

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Quiet: An almost empty boarding area is seen at the usually-bustling Union Station in Washington D.C. due to the cancelled trains

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Alternate route: Passengers in Washington D.C. board a bus for New York after the derailment shut down a critical section of the railroad

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Location: A map shows how the train had left Philadelphia and crashed at a bend in Port Richmond on its way to New York City

Amtrak said the train, which was traveling from Washington D.C. to New York, was carrying 238 passengers when the train derailed, ripping some cars apart, sending a total of seven off the tracks and destroying the engine.

Footage of the harrowing aftermath was posted to Instagram by Questlove's producer Yameen Allworld, who was aboard the train, and revealed the terrified cries and sobs of passengers scrambling to leave the cars. In the video, passengers can be seen clambered over to help each other escape the overturned carriage while rescuers rush to their aid.

REPEAT WRECKAGE: CRASH IS JUST THE LATEST MAJOR ACCIDENT ON AMERICA'S BUSIEST ROUTE

Tuesday night's wreck unfolded on the Northeast Corridor line, a stretch of track that has long been part of the busiest railroad in America and passes through cities that have seen a number of disasters.

In April, on the same stretch of track, a young woman was struck by a train after driving her car onto tracks in Rhode Island. No one on the train was injured.

In February, a mother from Westchester, New York, became stuck on Metro North tracks in Valhalla and caused a crash that killed six and injured more than a dozen others.

America's train system has also seen recent tragedies outside of the Northeast, with an Amtrak train in Amite, Louisiana, killing a truck driver when it ran into his vehicle on Sunday.

In March, an Amtrak train in North Carolina hit a tractor-trailer and flipped over, leaving 55 train passengers injured.

While Amtrak and Metro North have seen recent incidents claim passengers' lives, the last Amtrak incident on the Northeast Corridor to reach the destructive scale of Tuesday's crash was a 1987 crash that killed 16.

One of the worst passenger train collisiosn in Amtrak's history occurred in 1993 on the cross-country route from Miami to Los Angeles when 47 people died and more than 100 were injured in 'the Big Bayou Canot' crash.

Tuesday;s disaster came on the same curve as one of America's deadliest train crashes, a 1943 accident that killed 79. The train, the Congressional Limited, careened off the tracks after the wheels of an older car that had been added to fit more travelers started to overheat and spark, before its axle fell off.

As many as 200 people went to hospitals to be evaluated or treated, the mayor said on Wednesday, and as many as eight were critically injured, CNN reported.

Herb Cushing, the medical director for Temple University Hospital, the closest trauma center to the crash site, said at a Wednesday press conference that 23 patients remain at the hospital and that many passengers' injuries - mostly leg, arm and rib fractures - had been caused when other passengers or objects fell on them, or when they were thrown through the air.

Of the eight people who are still in critical condition at the hospital, he said he expects all to survive.

None of the patients were children, he said, and the patients include people from Albania, India, Belgium, Germany and Spain.

Most of the people who were able to speak when they arrived at the hospital had been sitting at the back of the train, suggesting to Dr Cushing that the passengers who suffered the worst injuries had been at the front.

'I was surprised there were as few head injuries that we saw,' he told reporters. 'I think we're fortunate that there wen't more deaths. What little [news coverage] I've seen suggested things could have been a lot worse.'

The mayor described the scene of devastation following the crash on Tuesday night. He said all seven train cars, including the engine, were in 'various stages of disarray'.

He said there were cars that were 'completely overturned, on their side, ripped apart.'

'It is an absolute disastrous mess,' he said. 'I've never seen anything like this in my life.

'It is a devastating scene down there. 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.'

The front of the train was going into a turn when it started to shake before coming to a sudden stop.

An Associated Press manager, Paul Cheung, was on the train and said he was watching Netflix when 'the train started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake.'

'Then suddenly you could see everything starting to shake,' he said. 'You could see people's stuff flying over me.'

Cheung said another passenger urged him to escape from the back of his car, which he did. He said he saw passengers trying to escape through the windows of cars tipped on their sides.

'The front of the train is really mangled,' he said. 'It's a complete wreck. The whole thing is like a pile of metal.'

Gaby Rudy, an 18-year-old from Livingston, New Jersey, was headed home from George Washington University when the derailment occurred. She said she was nearly asleep when she suddenly felt the train 'fall off the track'.

The next few minutes were filled with broken glass and smoke, said Rudy, who suffered minor injuries. 'They told us we had to run away from the train in case another train came,' she said.

Another passenger, Daniel Wetrin, was among more than a dozen people taken to a nearby elementary school afterward.

'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,' he 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.'

Roads all around the crash site were blocked off. Hundreds of firefighters surrounded the train cars, taking people out.

Several injured people, including one man complaining of neck pain, were rolled away on stretchers. Others wobbled while walking away or were put on city buses. An elderly woman was given oxygen.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy was on the train and said he helped people. He tweeted photos of firefighters helping other people in the wreckage.

'Pray for those injured,' he said.

Senator Tom Carper of Delaware also was on the Amtrak train but got off in Wilmington, shortly before the derailment. He later tweeted that he was 'grateful to be home safe and sound'.

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Impact: CCTV video taken from a nearby building shows sparks as the train passes and crashes late on Tuesday night

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Search: Emergency responders can be seen looking for injured passengers after several cars overturned on Tuesday night

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Scramble: Rescuers come to the aid of injured people inside the derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, in a photo provided by former Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy, who was a passenger on the crashed train

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Escape to safety: A police officer assists a man as he leaves the scene of the train crash on Tuesday evening

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Springing to action: Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter speaks on a mobile phone as emergency responders search for passengers

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Injuries: Emergency personnel carry the injured away from the scene of a deadly train wreck; more than 140 people were taken to hospital

On Wednesday morning, President Obama also released a statement saying he and his wife Michelle were 'shocked and deeply saddened' to hear of the tragedy.

'Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those we lost last night, and to the many passengers who today begin their long road to recovery,' he said.

'Along the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak is a way of life for many. From Washington, DC and Philadelphia to New York City and Boston, this is a tragedy that touches us all.

'As we work to determine exactly what happened, I commend the fire, police and medical personnel working tirelessly and professionally to save lives.'

'Philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love – a city of neighborhoods and neighbors – and that spirit of loving-kindness was reaffirmed last night, as hundreds of first responders and passengers lent a hand to their fellow human beings in need.'

Hillary Clinton added on Twitter: 'Heartbroken for the passengers and families affected by #Amtrak188, and grateful to all the first responders on the scene.'

The area where the derailment occurred is known as Frankford Junction and has a big curve. It's not far from where one of the nation's deadliest train accidents occurred: the 1943 derailment of The Congressional Limited, from Washington to New York, which killed 79 people.

Amtrak said rail service on the busy Northeast Corridor between New York and Philadelphia had been stopped.

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Derailed: On Tuesday night, a crime scene investigator looks inside a train car after the wreck sent seven of the cars off the tracks

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Rushed to safety: Emergency personnel work the scene of the deadly train wreck in Philadelphia on Tuesday night

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Hurt: More than 240 people were on the train at the time it derailed shortly after 9pm on Tuesday as it headed to New York

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Escape: Passengers of an Amtrak train that crashed gather on the ground after escaping the wreckage on Tuesday night

The mayor, citing the mangled train tracks and downed wires, said: 'There's no circumstance under which there would be any Amtrak service this week through Philadelphia.'

In a bizarre twist, just minutes before the derailment, a separate SEPTA commuter train on its way to Trenton was brought to a halt after a 'projectile' smashed through the engineer's window, thePhiladelphia Inquirer reported. Authorities are investigating but said they do not believe the two incidents are connected.

The derailment happened in Port Richmond, one of five neighborhoods in what's known as Philadelphia's River Wards, dense rowhouse neighborhoods located off the Delaware River. Area resident David Hernandez, whose home is close to the tracks, heard the derailment.

'It sounded like a bunch of shopping carts crashing into each other,' he said.

The crashing sound lasted a few seconds, he said, and then there was chaos and screaming.

Governor Tom Wolf, who was in touch with the mayor and other state and local officials about the derailment, thanked the first responders for 'their brave and quick action'.

'My thoughts and prayers are with all of those impacted by tonight's train derailment,' he said in a statement. 'For those who lost their lives, those who were injured, and the families of all involved, this situation is devastating.'

Amtrak hotline for those concerned they may have friends and family on board: 800-523-9101

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Deadly scene: The area of Tuesday night's crash, Frankford Junction, also saw another deadly derailment in 1943 (pictured). In that crash, 79 passengers were killed after an old train car that had been added to fit more passengers lost its axle

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Philadelphia rail crash: Why do Amtrak trains derail with such frequency? - Americas - World
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 5:00 PM

In Philadelphia, it seems Amtrak is facing one of its most serious wrecks in recent years. As a swarm of flashlights and floodlights swept the scene of an Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia, the spectacle was horrific. A train car rolled on to its side. Emergency responders uncovering bodies. A survivor covered in grime sipping from a bottle of water in a daze. Just before midnight, officials announced a toll: five dead, dozens injured.

Live updates: Amtrak train crash in Philadelphia

Why do Amtrak trails derail with such frequency? While the cause of the most recent derailment was still undetermined, the answer has a lot to do with America’s crumbling transportation infrastructure, and a little to do with freak accidents.

The United States’s disinterest in funding rail transportation is long-lamented. Amtrak, a for-profit corporation subsidized by the federal government that doesn’t turn a profit with no dedicated funding stream, is a Republican punching bag — the subject of a perennial struggle for funding each year on Capitol Hill.

Why Do Amtrak Trains Derail?
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:58 PM

The derailment of Amtrak's Train 188, from Washington, D.C., to New York, left a horrific disaster in its wake — six dead, over 150 injured, seven train cars and an engine severely damaged, and train service to Philadelphia completely disrupted.

But while investigators from Amtrak, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) crawl over the wreckage, trying to discover what caused the train bearing 238 passengers and five crew members to leave the tracks, the most basic of questions remains — why do Amtrak's trains derail?

According to the FRA, derailments are disturbingly common, but usually happen without serious consequences. Between 2012 and this year, there were 4,065 derailments listed on the

FRA's website

, with causes ranging from human and equipment failure to debris on the tracks, floods and snow.

Rails frequently are broken, cars improperly loaded and unbalanced, vandalism occurs and signals sometimes fail or are ignored.

George Bibel

, a University of North Dakota professor of engineering and author of

"Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters,"

says that, "Most derailments are relatively benign, and can be compared to a person walking down the street, tripping, getting back up, and continuing on her or his way."

However, others are not.

Amtrak's first major derailment, in 1971 near Salem, Illinois, resulted in 11 deaths and 163 injuries, The Washington Post reports, while the deadliest crash in Amtrak's history occurred in 1993 in Alabama when a train fell from a trestle, dropped 12 feet and landed in a bayou, causing 40 deaths, the Post reports.

The specific cause of Tuesday's crash still is unknown, but one underlying cause likely is the lack of money the profit-losing Amtrak has for rail and rolling stock improvements.

"The problem that you have, and you've had it since 1976 and even before, is that there's never been an investment program that would bring the infrastructure up where it belongs on existing capacity," Joseph Boardman, president of Amtrak, told

The Atlantic

"The improvements on infrastructure are an equity question. The United States has lost its understanding of what that means for highways, for railroads, for transit systems, and they need to regain it," he said.

Simon Van Zuylen-Wood

, writing in the National Journal, commented, "The House of Representatives agreed to fund Amtrak for the next four years at a rate of $1.4 billion per year. Meanwhile, the Chinese government — fair comparison or not — will be spending $128 billion this year on rail."

Bibel wrote, "Derailments are usually caused by equipment failures. Broken, settled, spread, shifted or overturned rails account for about 50 percent of the equipment-related derailments.

"Poor train handling, incorrectly set track switches, unsecured cars on a hill, shifted loads, vandalism, or obstructions on the track are among the human causes of derailments. Derailments can also be caused by flash floods, avalanches, rock slides, and high winds," the Post reported.

Amtrak is profitable in the much-traveled Northeast Corridor and passenger loads have increased by 50 percent in the last 15 years, the Journal reports. However, in the rest of the country, with long distances to be crossed, Amtrak runs at a loss.

The Journal reported, "Together, the Highway Trust Fund and the Federal Aviation Administration receive about 45 times what Amtrak does, through subsidies and gas taxes."

The NTSB has recovered the train's "black box," similar to the recording devices on airplanes, and hopes it will reveal the cause of the Tuesday disaster,

ABC News

reports.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, "There is clearly more that can be done when we're talking about a railway infrastructure that is decades old. If there's an opportunity for us to make further investments in our infrastructure that would better safeguard the traveling public, then those are investments that we should make,"

CNN

reported.

Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pennsylvania, told CNN, "If we're not investing in our safety for the Northeast Corridor, we're not doing what we should be doing down here. We need to continue to invest in our passenger rail system, a critical piece of the economy in the northeast part of the country."

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Two injured after train derailment in Allendale County
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:54 PM

South Carolina Radio Network

Two people have been injured after a train derailment in Allendale County early Tuesday morning.

WRDW-TV reports railroad company CSX says one of its trains derailed around 2:20 a.m. Deputies say two crew members on the train were injured and taken to Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta, Georgia. The extent of their injuries is not known at this time.

The derailment occurred in the community of Martin, which is located about 12 miles from Allendale and 40 miles southeast of Augusta, Georgia. The train took a wrong turn and crashed into stationary rail cars outside the Archroma colored paper and textiles plant, according to a release from Archroma.

Officials say the derailment caused a chemical — believed to be hydrochloric acid — to spill, leading to an evacuation of the Archroma plant. Given the rural nature of the area, only one nearby home needed to be evacuated. Both members of the train’s crew reported difficulty breathing before they were taken to the hospital. Hydrochloric acid is a corrosive material that can damage organs, skin tissue, eyes, and intestines if touched.

CSX said the train was traveling from Savannah to Atlanta.

South Carolina Emergency Management Division spokesman Derrec Becker said the spill is now contained. A hazmat crew is determining whether the acid came from the train or the parked railcars.

The FBI is helping the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Allendale County Sheriff’s Office, and CSX respond to the situation.

Jeremy Urso contributed to this report

FBI indicates it does not believe Allendale County train derailment was accidental
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:54 PM

South Carolina Radio Network

Recent steps by the FBI seem to indicate that investigators do not think a CSX train derailment last month in rural Allendale County was accidental.

The law enforcement agency revealed Wednesday it has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of anyone who caused the train to crash near the Martin community on January 27. Emergency officials said the crash occurred after the train was diverted down the wrong tracks near the Archroma colored paper and textiles plant. The engine then collided with several rail cars parked on the siding. The train’s conductor and engineer were injured during the collision.

A state Emergency Management Division spokesman said several toxic chemicals, most notably 19,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid, leaked from the derailed train cars after the crash. Hydrochloric acid is a corrosive material that can damage organs, skin tissue, eyes, and intestines if touched. Spokesman Derrec Becker said the Archroma plant and a nearby home were evacuated, but the chemical did not sicken anyone along the rural stretch of rail.

An FBI team responded on the day of the crash, but there had been no other indications at the time that investigators were treating the crash as a crime scene. It’s believed someone may have illegally tampered with the rail junction switch, according to The State newspaper.

CSX is contributing to some of the reward. Spokeswoman Kristin Seay told the paper that the company is working with federal officials.

FLASHBACK: FBI Warns of Train Derailment Threat
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:52 PM

The Gateway Pundit

As we await more information on the train derailment in Philadelphia on Tuesday night it should be noted that the FBI put out several warnings since 9-11 on possible sabotage of US trains.

A photo taken inside Amtrak 188 after it crashed in Philadelphia.

The FBI warned of stolen “derailers” after the 9-11 attacks.
This warning was first published in 2003.
ABC News reported:

Devices that could be used by terrorists to derail trains are being stolen from rail facilities around the country, the FBI warned today.

Nine derailers, a piece of railroad equipment used to derail train cars for safety purposes in railyards have been stolen recently, sources said, citing the FBI’s weekly intelligence bulletin.

The theft of these items is strange since they are of little use outside of the rail industry, according to the bulletin.

Railroads have been targeted in the past by terrorists, the bulletin said.

It specifically mentioned the Oct. 1995 derailment of an Amtrak train in Hyder, Ariz. In that incident, one person was killed and 78 were injured when parts of the track were sabotaged. The FBI located a derail 50 miles from Hyder.

The bulletin does not mention a specific threat, and the FBI has no indication the derail thefts are related to terrorism. The bulletin is distributed weekly to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies around the United States.

In February of this year the FBI said the train derailment in rural Allendale County was no accident.

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train derailment equipment - Google Search
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:50 PM

In the news

FLASHBACK: FBI Warns of Train Derailment Threat

The Gateway Pundit‎ - 7 hours ago

Nine derailers, a piece of railroad equipment used to derail train cars for safety purposes in ...

6 killed in NYC-bound Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia

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Amtrak derailment: Train traveling more than 100 mph through curve

Los Angeles Times‎ - 35 mins ago

More news for train derailment equipment

Obama Is Said to Choose Chuck Rosenberg as Next D.E.A. Director
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:33 PM

WASHINGTON — Chuck Rosenberg, a senior F.B.I. official and former United States attorney, has been chosen by President Obama to be the interim director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to law enforcement officials.

Mr. Rosenberg will replace Michele M. Leonhart, who announced her retirement last month after accusations that D.E.A. agents in Colombia had participated in sex parties with prostitutes paid for by drug cartels. She also clashed repeatedly with the Obama administration over its marijuana policies.

For the past year and a half, Mr. Rosenberg has served as the chief of staff to the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey.

Mr. Rosenberg has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats. In 2006, the Senate unanimously confirmed him as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He also served as the United States attorney in the Southern District of Texas from 2005 to 2006.

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FBI rules out terrorism in Amtrak derailment
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:24 PM

The FBI has found no indication of terrorism in the derailment of an Amtrak train outside Philadelphiathat left six people dead and at least 60 injured.

FBI agents made the determination after examining the crash scene just north of Philadelphia’s 30 Street Station.

National Transportation and Safety Board inspectors are hunting for the cause of the crash. Multiple reports indicate investigators are reviewing the speed of the train as it approached a sharp curve.

The Northeast regional train with 240 aboard departed Washington’s Union Station en route to New York’s Penn Station Tuesday evening.

The derailment has wreaked havoc on the rails throughout the Northeast.

Amtrak trains will run between Washington and Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and New York and Boston.

Amtrak engineer took curve at ’107 mph’
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:22 PM

WND

Seven people have been confirmed dead and dozens more injured in an Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia that saw the separation and complete destruction of seven cars, including the engine.

The Northeast Regional train, number 188, was traveling at a speed of 107 miles per hour when it derailed around 9:30 p.m., according to an analysis by the Associated Press of surveillance video taken just prior to the derailment.

The video shows the train — which was roughly 662 feet long — passing the camera in just over five seconds. But AP found the surveillance video inexplicably plays back slightly slower than in real time.

The train’s engineer, who has not been identified, declined to give a statement to police investigators and left the East Detectives Division with an attorney, police commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said Wednesday.

The train’s conductor, also unidentified, was at Einstein Hospital with a skull fracture, Ramsey said.

The accident occurred at a rail yard called Frankford Junction, where multiple freight and passenger routes converge, and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor makes one of its sharpest turns, and where the speed limit was only 50 miles per hour.

The speed of the train was recorded in the so-called black box data recorders recovered from the wreckage.

Amtrak crews have been installing “Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement” on the Northeast Corridor and other Amtrak rail routes, and were to install the system this year in the Philadelphia area, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The system is designed to prevent collisions, automatically slow speeding trains and enforce speed restrictions.

Five people were killed at the scene; another died in a nearby hospital.

Herbert Cushing, the chief medical officer at Temple University Hospital, said during a Wednesday morning press conference: “A person died here, couldn’t be revived from injuries. … There was a person who died here after the five reported who died at the scene.”

Later Wednesday, investigators found a body among the wreckage, bringing the death count to seven. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the track the Amtrak train was riding was in the same corridor where a commuter train was hit by “an known projectile” just minutes before the derailment occurred, SEPTA spokesperson Jern Williams said.

The northbound Train 769 was traveling northbound on the same track system as the Amtrak – on the rails right next to it – when something hit the engineer’s window and broke it. Nobody was injured and the passengers were transferred to buses, the newspaper reported.

Investigators aren’t saying the two events are necessarily related. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter joined with National Transportation Safety Board and Amtrak officials to give updates on the scene Wednesday morning – but not much new was reported.

Nutter said officials haven’t yet accounted for all the passengers on Amtrak’s list, but some may have skipped the trip to take a different train, or otherwise fallen under the radar. NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said experts were looking at the track, train signals, the condition of the train and human performance, among other factors, to determine the reasons for the crash.

An Amtrak representative, meanwhile, said those seeking information on passengers and loved ones could call the train’s main line, at 1-800-523-9101.

The crash scene was described as horrific. “It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Nutter said, in a press conference in the midnight Tuesday hour. “We can confirm at least five individuals deceased.”

He also said he’s “never seen anything like this in my life.” The wreck occurred while the train was rounding a curve.

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Dozens of individuals were transported to a nearby hospital late Tuesday night through early Wednesday morning, with at least six regarded in critical condition.

The Wednesday morning light gave investigators their first clear look at the wreck – and the scene, according to many, was devastating. At one spot, a steel utility pole had hit one of the cars, and in other spots, twisted metal could be seen strewn across the tracks – an indication of how fast the train had been traveling. Other pictures showed the overturned cars completely destroyed, a mass of twisted, mangled metal.

The train, Northeast Regional 188, had been traveling from Washington to New York with 243 people aboard.

Video emerging in the aftermath of the wreck showed panicked victims trying to make their way in the dark toward the train door. Voices on the video can be heard saying, “Crawl forward sir, crawl forward.”

One passenger told Fox News: “We left the station, about seven minutes later it felt like a sharp curve.” Another passenger said “everything seemed fine” and then “there was like a two-second shake where we were just thrown against the window.”

He also described people “bleeding” and “with broken bones” trying to make their way to safety through the smoke-filled cars. Other witnesses said they saw people being hurled through the air, smashed into the sides of cars, and the smoky air made them think the train was on fire. Cushing said the scene at the hospital had quieted and most of those injured and taken for treatment have been released.

“Things have calmed down,” he said, at Wednesday’s press conference.”We have a normal operating schedule today.”

More than 200 were hurt in the crash, and officials fear more bodies will be found as the clean-up operation proceeds.

The U.S. Naval Academy said a midshipman on leave was among the dead. His family identified him as Justin Zemser, a 20-year-old from Rockaway Beach in Queens, who was in his second year at the Academy.

An Associated Press said one of the victims was an AP employee. It said Jim Gaines, a 48-year-old father of two, had attended meetings in Washington and was returning home to Plainsboro, N.J., when the train derailed.

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Two Philly trains suffered window damage around the same time as the crash of Amtrak train 188.
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:17 PM

The Slatest

Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Two trains suffered damage to windows and at least one of them was hit by a projectile near Philadelphia shortly before Tuesday’s deadly Amtrak derailment.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that just before the crash of Amtrak train 188, which resulted in at least seven fatalities and dozens of injuries, a local SEPTA train was damaged after a projectile hit an engineer’s window.

At around the same time, a third train—Amtrak train 2173—experienced a cracked window after a loud thump was heard just before it arrived in Philadelphia.

Photo by Doug Harris

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the cause of the crash, but did not immediately respond to inquiries about whether or not the two separate incidents of window damage were related to the crash.

SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams, who also had not returned a Slate request for comment as of press time, told the Inquirer that there was “no indication” that the SEPTA projectile incident and the Amtrak crash “are related in any way."

At about 9:25 p.m. Tuesday, SEPTA's northbound Train 769, en route to Trenton on tracks on the Northeast Corridor beside the Amtrak rails, was struck by "an unknown projectile" that broke the engineer's window, SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said.

No injuries were reported and the train was held at the North Philadelphia station. The 80 passengers were transferred to buses.

About three minutes later and four miles away, near Frankford Junction, Amtrak's northbound Train 188 derailed on the Northeast Corridor tracks, killing at least six and injuring scores.

At around the same time, Slate director of technology Doug Harris was on a southbound Amtrak train from New York to D.C. when his train suffered similar damage:

I was traveling south this evening on Amtrak train 2173 just prior to arriving in Philadelphia when I heard a loud thump. A passenger a couple rows ahead of me pointed to his window at a large crack that just appeared.

When we arrived in Philadelphia, a few Amtrak workers examined the window. The conductor was the first—alerted to the crack by other passengers, I believe. He suggested that the passenger sitting by the window move to another seat. The conductor soon returned with a man who appeared to be a maintenance worker. He examined the glass and noted that the impact didn't break "the second layer." They left and the conductor returned a third time with two uniformed Amtrak police officers. They looked at the window, took photos, and left.

I learned of the derailment of Amtrak 188 about 30 minutes later.

According to Amtrak’s status system, my train arrived in Philadelphia at 9:14 p.m. and departed at 9:26 p.m. The impact on the window happened approximately five minutes before we arrived. Amtrak 188 derailed only a few minutes later, at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Any implication that the crash and the two separate accidents were related would be speculative and would not even necessarily indicate foul play. But it is apparently not common for projectiles to hit and damage windows on trains in that corridor, so if that was what occurred on Amtrak train 2173 as well, then it would be an unusual coincidence.

“We keep comprehensive safety statistics … but that’s not one of them,” said Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Michael England when asked about how often projectiles hit trains. “It’s not a common enough occurrence, if it was something that happened frequently enough it would be something statistically that we would collect.”

Update 1:15 p.m.: This post has been updated to reflect the increased number of fatalities.

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Projectile Hit SEPTA Train Minutes Before Amtrak Derailment in Philadelphia
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:16 PM

Updated at 9:51 AM EDT on Wednesday, May 13, 2015

A projectile hit a SEPTA train minutes before an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia Tuesday night, SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams confirmed.

Williams said investigators do not believe the SEPTA incident is related in any way to the derailment.

The projectile hit and busted the engineer's window on a northbound SEPTA train that was headed to Trenton on tracks that run along the Amtrak rails, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. About 80 passengers were put on buses to continue their trip.

Less than five minutes later and approximately four miles away Amtrak train 188 went shuddered and went off the tracks at the Frankford Junction in Northeast Philadelphia, killing at least 6 people and injuring more than 140.

A full investigative team from the National Transportation Safety Board and multiple federal, state and local agencies remained at the crash site Wednesday.

Published at 9:48 AM EDT on May 13, 2015

SEPTA Says Commuter Train Hit By Projectile Just Before Amtrak Train Derailed « CBS Philly
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:16 PM

CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) – A Philadelphia commuter train was hit by a projectile about 20 minutes before an Amtrak train derailed a few miles up the track.

READ: 7 Dead, More Than 200 Injured In Train Derailment

A spokeswoman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority says there’s no indication that the incident is related to the derailment.

SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams says they don’t know what the projectile was. It broke the engineer’s window around 9:25 p.m. Tuesday near SEPTA’s North Philadelphia station. No injuries were reported.

Williams says the Trenton-bound commuter train was stopped and the incident was being investigated when the Amtrak derailment happened about 3½ miles away.

WATCH: WEB EXTRA: Officials Provide Update On Deadly Amtrak Derailment (Part 2)

Williams says Amtrak dispatches SEPTA’s Trenton line and was aware of the incident.

Seven people, including a Naval Academy midshipman, were killed and dozens more were injured inTuesday night’s Amtrak derailment. The conductor of the crash was also injured but survived.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross says it is providing counseling and support for survivors.

“We will do everything we can to assist families who had loved ones on that train,” said Mayor Nutter at a press conference on Wednesday.

“This is the Amtrak family, we are very saddened by what has occurred,” added Anthony Coscia, of Amtrak.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:14 PM

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SEPTA Says Commuter Train Hit By Projectile Just Before Amtrak Train Derailed
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Obama Rips Fox: 'We're Going to Have to Change How the Media Reports'
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:08 PM

Comments On: Obama Rips Fox: ‘We’re Going To Have To Change How The Media Reports’

For going on seven years we have learned three things about President Obama: 1) He loves the poor so much he continues to create more of them. 2) He loves the poor so much he does everything in his power to keep them poor. 3) He doesn’t see the opposition as loyal, but as bad players — his enemy. This is especially true of Fox News, which Obama ripped as anti-poor bigots during a Wednesday afternoon summit on poverty.

We’re used to this Obama, the forever-partisan who has never seen himself as president of all the people but only of those who worship him.

What was most revealing about the president’s comments was his expressed desire to “change how the media reports.”

Speaking of Fox News, the poor, and the way GOP leaders think, Obama said, [W]e’re going to have to change how our body politic thinks, which means we’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues.”

Here is the full transcript:

I think that the effort to suggest that the poor are sponges, leeches, don’t want to work, are lazy, are undeserving, got traction. And look, it’s still being propagated. I have to say that if you watch Fox News on a regular basis, it is a constant venue. They will find folks who make me mad. I don’t know where they find them. They’re all like, “I don’t want to work. I just want a free Obama Phone, or whatever.” And that becomes an entire narrative that gets worked up. And very rarely do you hear an interview of a waitress, which is much more typical — who is raising a couple of kids and doing everything right but still can’t pay the bills.

And so, if we’re going to change how
and
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
think, we’re going to have to change how our body politic thinks, which means we’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues, and how people’s impressions of what it’s like to struggle in this economy looks like. And how budgets connect to that. And that’s a hard process because that requires a much broader conversation than typically we have on the nightly news.

After seven failed years, to watch Obama sit there and discuss the poor as though he is part of the solution and not the problem, is laughable.

And let’s not forget that Obama knows nothing about poverty. He has lived a privileged life.

Obama attended prep schools as a child, lived with his well-to-do grandparents in Honolulu as a teen, where he attended Panahou, a fancy private school. Both of his grandparents were well educated; she even worked as the vice president of a bank. For a time, Obama had a nanny! From there Obama attended Occidental College in California, was well off enough to visit Pakistan for 3 weeks; he then attended two of the most prestigious colleges in the country: Columbia and Harvard.

The closest Obama has ever come to experiencing anything close to poverty was during his time as a community organizer in Chicago. And in that dynamic, the poor were just pawns for Obama to manipulate to achieve his political ambitions.

Obama knows nothing of struggle, or what life is like for those who do. And after 7 years of his failed economic policies, we also know he doesn’t give a damn enough about the poor to change his policies in a way that might actually help them.

Obama likes poor people fine — he likes them dependent on the government.

He also likes the news media to do what it’s told.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC

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· · ·

Police Report: Tony Robinson, Man Killed by Madison Officer, High on Mushrooms
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 4:06 PM

Comments On: Police Report: Tony Robinson, Man Killed By Madison Officer, High On Mushrooms

The state Department of Justice, which investigated the shooting, released its reports after Ozanne announced his decision. Here’s a look at the last few hours of Robinson’s life, compiled from witness accounts detailed in the reports:

—

- Robinson, who had been staying at an apartment with friends for a few days, smokes marijuana on the morning of March 6. He tells one friend that he wants to get high on hallucinogenic mushrooms and later buys 7 grams of mushrooms from an acquaintance.

- That evening, Robinson tells the girlfriend of one of the apartment tenants that he’s “freaking out” after taking mushrooms. He begins shouting expletives at his father, who wasn’t there. He grabs the crotch of one friend and tries to punch another person.

- Robinson chases a friend and his girlfriend outside. They drive off in the girl’s car, and Robinson goes after them, running in front of cars. His friend calls 911 at 6:28 p.m. and says Robinson is punching holes in the apartment walls and “going crazy.”

- At 6:31 p.m., a man calls police to say he was punched by Robinson while walking to a restaurant.

- A minute later, police get a call from another man who says Robinson had just tried to strangle him as he was fueling his car at a gas station. The man tells police, “He looked like he was trying to kill me.” He says he saw Robinson throw a punch at a couple passing by on the sidewalk.

- Kenny is dispatched to a call of a man who had hit a friend and was running in traffic. Dispatchers warn Kenny that the man is believed to be under the influence of some mind-altering substance.

- As Kenny is driving into the area, a man waves at him and tells him Robinson is in the apartment house. The apartment house door is open and Kenny said he could hear yelling and a sound like a fist hitting something.

- Kenny told investigators that based on the last radio transmissions he had heard indicating the suspect was acting erratically and was strangling someone, he believed the suspect was assaulting someone. Kenny enters the apartment house through the open door, his weapon drawn, and climbs the stairs to the upstairs apartment.

- As he nears the top of the stairs, he announces himself as a police officer. Kenny hears someone say, “Well, the police is here.” Robinson then appears and punches Kenny in the head. Kenny told investigators he thought Robinson hit him more than once and that he was afraid he would fall down the stairs and end up incapacitated. He said he feared Robinson would then take his gun and kill him and whoever was in the apartment.

- Kenny fires his gun seven times, telling investigators that Robinson kept coming toward him. An autopsy found Robinson was shot in the lip, left front shoulder, left chest and right index finger. Kenny said “space and time considerations” prevented him from using non-lethal force.

- Kenny said he immediately began giving aid to Robinson as another officer searched the apartment. That officer finds no one inside.

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· ·

Obama’s Trade Backfire - WSJ
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 3:56 PM

The trade bill failed a major procedural vote on Tuesday, with every Senate Democrat save one blocking debate on what President Obama continues to call an economic priority. The 52-45 liberal blockade doesn’t mean trade-promotion authority is dead. But preventing a setback from becoming a rout will require a Republican salvage operation to rescue Mr. Obama from the consequences of his governing methods.

The politics of trade require Presidents to cultivate coalitions from the center out, building a majority between statist progressives and the protectionist right. But that is not Mr. Obama’s thing. His instincts are to govern from the left, treat Members of Congress as peasants who must bow before his superior wisdom, and then assail the motives and character of his opponents.

Mr. Obama’s attack-and-polarize approach worked while he had overwhelming liberal majorities, despite private unrest among Democrats about the White House’s ex-cathedra habits. They didn’t mind when he attacked Republicans as moral cretins and dissemblers. The difference is that on trade Mr. Obama has turned his contempt on Democrats.

Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot on why Democrats blocked a vote on fast-track trade authority, and the prospects for future deals. Photo credit: Getty Images.

At the Nike NKE -0.21 % campus in Oregon over the weekend, Mr. Obama berated “my fellow-travellers on minimum wage and on job training and on clean energy. . . . And then on this one, they’re like whooping on me.” He added that these critics are “just wrong” and “they’re making this stuff up.”

In a post-speech interview with Yahoo YHOO 1.30 % news, Mr. Obama was asked about SenatorElizabeth Warren’s contention that the trade deal could undermine financial regulation. Mr. Obama called her “absolutely wrong,” and then talked of himself: “I passed it. Think about the logic of that, right? The notion that I had a massive fight with Wall Street . . . and then I sign a provision that would unravel it? I’d have to be pretty stupid.”

Mr. Obama added with his special condescension that “the truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else. And you know, she’s got a voice that she wants to get out there. I understand that.” We agree with Mr. Obama on the merits, but the point is that Presidents are supposed to work toward consensus through argument and persuasion, not ad hominem insults toward lesser political species. No wonder his nominal allies defied his trade instructions on Tuesday.

Senate Democrats with the principled exception of Tom Carper of Delaware claim they merely want to consider a customs bill as well as trade-promotion authority. But this is an 11th-hour double-cross. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch and ranking Democrat Ron Wyden explicitly agreed in April to consider the customs bill separately.

The original Hatch-Wyden deal was clean trade promotion—plus trade-adjustment subsidies as the price free traders could accept at the liberal tollbooth. For this Republicans have been criticized on the right. The new liberal demand for the customs measure introduces currency manipulation, steel tariffs and other destructive provisions as part of the base bill, and it speaks volumes that Democrats reneged over the protests of a Democratic President.

Then again, maybe liberals got greedy as a result of Mr. Obama’s own economics of resentment. He has spent six years demeaning the benefits of free markets—on taxes, entitlements, labor markets and much else—only to do a 180-reversal on trade. His liberal fellow-travellers have a point when they ask if this is the same Obama who denigrated free trade in 2008.

The problem now is that failing to pass trade-promotion authority would be far more than a defeat for Mr. Obama. It would do great harm to U.S. national interests and the world economy. The Pacific deal is the best opportunity in decades to liberalize trade. A country that cannot overcome narrow geographic or business or labor interests, and that shrinks from global competition, is choosing national decline.

The larger lesson is that polarization and division are never appealing qualities in a President, and eventually the ill-will and mistrust these tactics foment backfire on a leader. Perhaps the trade bill can be salvaged if Mr. Obama recommits to his original theme of “hope and change”—and if this time he means it.

Read the whole story

· · ·

As Obama Plays China Card on Trade, Chinese Pursue Their Own Deals - New York Times
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 1:38 PM

Cyber Warfare - Google News

Washington Post

As Obama Plays China Card on Trade, Chinese Pursue Their Own Deals
New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Obama has toured Nike's headquarters and busy American ports in recent weeks to try to convince Democrats that rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade deal that he envisions as a crucial part of a legacy of ...
US & China's geopolitical power struggle: How the latter is trying to gain ...Economic Times

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Report: Commuter Train Hit by Projectile Just Before Amtrak Train Derailed
Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 1:38 PM

Comments On: Report: Commuter Train Hit By Projectile Just Before Amtrak Train Derailed

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

by Breitbart News13 May 201595

A spokeswoman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority says there’s no indication that the incident is related to the derailment.

Williams says the Trenton-bound commuter train was stopped and the incident was being investigated when the Amtrak derailment happened about 3 1/2 miles away.

Williams says Amtrak dispatches SEPTA’s Trenton line and was aware of the incident.

Six people were killed and dozens more were injured in Tuesday night’s Amtrak derailment.

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REPEAT WRECKAGE: CRASH IS JUST THE LATEST MAJOR ACCIDENT ON AMERICA'S BUSIEST ROUTE

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