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“It's a Complete Wreck”: Amtrak Train Derailment Survivor Accounts

Passengers aboard Amtrak train 188 described a normal commute before Tuesday night's derailment in Philadelphia that turned chaotic.

Eight people were killed and more than 200 treated for injuries at area hospitals after seven cars derailed in Philadelphia's Port Richmond section, officials said. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter described the scene as "an absolute disastrous mess."

Here are survivor accounts from passengers who were aboard the train:

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"It Looked Like We Were Going to Flip"

“We were going along nice and smooth, and then all of a sudden we were on our side," passenger Don Kelleher told NBC Philadelphia hours after the accident. "Then it looked like we were going to flip, but we never flipped. We went on the side and then back off the side. And then we came to a halt."

"People Were Bleeding From Their Head"

Max Helfman, 19, of Watchung, New Jersey, had been riding the train with his mother when the crash occurred. Helfman said they were in the last car of the train when they suddenly felt it shake, and then the car flipped over.

"People were thrown to the ground," Helfman said. "Chairs inside the train became unscrewed and suitcases were falling on people. My mother flew into me and I literally had to catch her. People were bleeding from their head. It was awful."

[NATL] Dramatic Images: Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia

"I Realized That Nothing Good Was Going to Happen Here"

Jeff Kutler, who was sitting in the train's quiet car, was heading from Washington, D.C., to his home in New York. He said his first indication of trouble was when the car started tipping to the right.

"And after a couple of seconds, or maybe it was a half a second, I realized that nothing good was going to happen here," Kutler said. "This train was tipping over." After the accident, Kutler was rushed to the hospital.

"It Was Terrifying and Awful"

New York Observer reporter Jillian Jorgensen told The Associated Press in an email that she was also seated in the quiet car and that the train was going "fast enough for me to be worried" when it began a hard bank to the right.

When the train derailed, the lights went out, and Jorgensen was thrown from her seat and she "flew across the train.” She said she landed landed underneath seats.

"It was terrifying and awful, and as it was happening it just did not feel like the kind of thing you could walk away from, so I feel very lucky," Jorgensen said.

"People Just Started Asking, 'How Do We Get Off the Train?'"

NBC Nightly News producer Janelle Richards told NBC New York she heard a loud crash around 9:20 p.m. She said people flew up in the air and there was a lot of "jerking back and forth."

She said the train "started to fill with smoke and I looked to my left and there was a woman in the aisle with blood coming down her face. And after a second, myself and other people just started asking, 'How do we get off the train? How do we get off the train?'"

"I Walked Off as if, Like, I Was in a Movie"

Another passenger, Daniel Wetrin, told the AP he was among more than a dozen people who were transported to a nearby elementary school after the incident.

"I think the fact that I walked off (the train) kind of made it even more surreal because a lot of people didn't walk off," Wetrin said. "I walked off as if, like, I was in a movie. There were people standing around, people with bloody faces. There were people, chairs, tables mangled about in the compartment ... power cables all buckled down as you stepped off the train."

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"There Were Some Pretty Banged-Up People"

Patrick Murphy, a former congressman from Pennsylvania's 8th District and an Iraq War veteran, was in the cafe car when the train crashed.

"There were some pretty banged-up people," Murphy said. "One guy next to me was passed out. We kicked out the window in the top of the train car and helped get everyone out."

"The Whole Thing Is Like a Pile of Metal"

AP manager Paul Cheung was watching Netflix when "the train started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake."

He said he saw passengers trying to escape through the windows of cars tipped on their sides. "The front of the train is really mangled," he said. "It's a complete wreck. The whole thing is like a pile of metal."

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