A Dublin woman was on board the passenger train in Philadelphia that derailed on Tuesday evening, killing at least six people.
Eimear Kelleher – who was in the city for a work event - survived the crash that occurred shortly after the Washington-New York Amtrak service left Philadelphia’s main station.
She tweeted after the incident – in which dozens of people were injured - to say she was ‘a little banged up’.
Scariest moment of my life. Luckily I'm just a little banged up. Not everyone was as blessed. Keep #Philly in your thoughts tonight. #Amtrak
— Eimear Kelleher (@TullamoreEims) May 13, 2015
“It all happened so quick that it’s such a blur,” she told TheJournal.ie. “I escaped with just a sore leg and some bruises. I was very lucky. I can’t believe it was such a bad accident. It doesn’t seem real.”
More than 240 people were on board Train 188, officials confirmed, but it is not yet known what caused the derailment.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said: “It is a devastating scene, never seen anything like this in my life.
"We walked the entire length of the train area. The engine [is] 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 crash occurred near the scene where 79 people were killed in 1943, when a train travelling from Washington to New York derailed.
