A woman who was on board the Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia says there’s no question it was going much faster than it usually does on that route.
Kate Raber spoke to the KTLA Morning News by phone from Temple University Hospital.
She hurt her elbow and may have sustained a concussion in the accident, which killed 6 passengers and injured more than 200.
Raber says at around 9:30 PM, she felt the train starting to shake and tip over.
“The guy across the aisle from me fell onto my outstretched arm,” she said. “Then the train finally stopped.”
“There was dust everywhere. I couldn’t tell if it was dust or smoke at the time. It was completely dark,” she said.
She escaped by jumping out of an opening at the front of the rail car.
Raber says she takes that particular Amtrak train from Washington to New York on a regular basis.
“I noticed during various parts of the trip between DC and Philly were were going really fast compared to what I’m used to on that specific train,” she said. “And I made a mental note of it.”
“When we hit that curve (in Philadelphia) and I started feeling g-forces, I knew something was up,” she said.
Raber says she’s positive investigators will conclude the train was traveling “way too fast.”
As for her own state of mind in the seconds after the derailment, Raber says: “All I could think was just stay conscious, stay alive.”