Amtrak train crash: Incredible videos show passengers helping each other escape wreckage

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Passengers who escaped the wreckage of the Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia have shared footage of their attempts at breaking free from the mangled train carriages.

Six people have died, over 140 have been hospitalised and at least six are in a critical condition, raising fears the death toll could grow throughout today.

Passengers on the train travelling from Washington DC to New York described it shaking, stopping and then tipping over shortly after it left a station. The front carriage was reportedly left “mangled” and all seven train cars were in "various stages of disarray”, according to Mayor Michael Nutter.

Some survivors filmed their escape from the wreckage and posted it on social media. The arresting footage shows people helping each other crawl out of carriages tipped sideways and assisting rescue teams on site.

Mayor Nutter described the crash as "an absolute disastrous mess", telling the Associated Press: "I've never seen anything like this in my life."