Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to report the new death toll and discoveries from the ongoing investigation.
An Amtrak train traveling from Washington, D.C., to New York City derailed in Philadelphia Monday night, killing seven people and injuring more than 60 passengers, the New York Times reports.
Around 9:30 p.m. EDT, the Amtrak train carrying some 238 passengers and five crew members derailed, causing seven train compartments to come completely off the tracks. Authorities told the Times that over 60 people had been taken to nearby hospitals, with about a half-dozen in critical condition.
According to CNN, the investigation into the derailment is ongoing, but the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the train was traveling at 100 mph, twice the speed limit, when it took a curve and derailed.
“I’m afraid that this train might be going too fast for this turn,” Peter Goelz, a top leader with the NTSB and a CNN analyst, told the TV network.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter went to the scene and described the catastrophic nature of the crash site. “It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Nutter said. “I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
Officials have not confirmed that everyone on board had been evacuated.
“I’ve never seen anything so devastating,” Philadelphia Fire Department Deputy Commissioner Jesse Wilson told the Daily Mail. “They’re in pretty bad shape. You can see that they’re completely, completely derailed from the track,” he said of the train cars. “They’ve been destroyed completely. The aluminum shell has been destroyed and they’ve been overturned completely. Again, I don't want to speculate on the cause, but it’s a devastating scene.”
The cause of the accident, which has prompted an investigation by federal, state and local agencies, is not yet known. The Times reports that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are involved in the investigation.
Video footage of the scene shows several train cars lying on their sides.