Two Dead in Amtrack Train Crash near Philadelphia

An Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia on Sunday causing a derailment, killing two people and sending more than 30 others to hospitals, authorities said.

Investigators and first responders work near the wreckage of an Amtrak passenger train carrying more than 200 passengers from Washington, DC to New York that derailed late last night May 13, 2015 in north Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Win McNamee/Getty Images

CHESTER, Pa.—An Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia on Sunday causing a derailment, killing two people and sending more than 30 others to hospital, authorities said.

Train 89 was heading from New York to Savannah, Georgia, at about 8 a.m. when it hit a backhoe that was on the track in Chester, about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia, officials said. The impact derailed the lead engine of the train, which was carrying more than 300 passengers and seven crew members.

Chester fire commissioner Travis Thomas said two people were killed, but neither was a passenger on the train. Authorities provided no additional information on the fatalities. Thomas and Amtrak officials said more than 30 people were taken to hospital with injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.

The car started shaking wildly, there was a smell of smoke, it looked like there was a small fire and then the window across from us blew out.

— Ne'eman, passenger