amtrak train 188 began its journal any washington d.c. it had a stop at 30th street station in philadelphia and then headed northbound for its ultimate destination of new york city. that train traveled across the schuykill river, and then it was speeding, at 100 miles per hour as it neared the curve at frankford junction. speed limit at that curve is just 50 miles per hour. the train derailed, killing seven people, and injuring 200 others. "eyewitness news" has learn tonight that philadelphia's district attorney's office is monitoring all findings in this case, and the d.a. says he will examine those findings to determine whether a criminal investigation, should be opened. the train's black box has been recovered. a preliminary investigation is underway with a more detailed analysis taking place in the nation's capitol. our team of reporter covering every angle of this story for you tonight, we will begin with our inn investigate i have reporter walt hunter live here at the crash scene in port richmond, walt.

>> reporter: chris, as we first reported at philadelphia district attorney seth williams told me that he is closely monitoring all findings and developments in this crash, eyeing a potential criminal investigation that could be in the future. if he deemed it appropriate. meanwhile ntsb speaking here just within the the last few minutes saying that the train was traveling, more than twice the speed limit. the speed limit is 50. the train doing much more than that. robert sumalt, who is a board member, made that revelation at the press conference here and here's some of what he had to say. >> the engineer applied fully mergecy brake application. maximum authorized speed through this curve was 50 miles per hour. when the engineer induced brake application was applied the train was traveling at

approximately 106 miles per hour. >> reporter: now as of this moment the ntsb is not prepared to say why the train was traveling so fast, they also declined to provide any biographical information on the engineer saying they simply don't know that yet. their investigation is moving forward to determine more information about why this happened and among all of the late developments from the scene. live from frankford walt hunter cbs-3 "eyewitness news". thanks very much walt. we are learning important information about exactly what happened last night. we are also learning more about some of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident in port richmond. jim gaines was an associated press staffer. that is him on the left. he work as a video software specialist for news wire service. jim gaines was 48. he leaves behind a wife ape two children. we know 20 year-old justin

zemser a mid ship man at u.s. naval academy. the his mother says he was on his way home to queen's new york. naval academy confirming his death in a statement tonight saying he was on leave. well, we are also hearing tonight from passengers who survived this crash last night, and from a neighbor who lived here in port richmond who heard and in some cases even saw what happened. our matt rivers is standing by here at the crash scene with more on that, matt. >> reporter: chris, we did speak with many, many people who had stories and all of them who survived were able to walk away from this crash even if they were injured they all told us they feel extremely lucky tonight, we did speak with one gentlemen, who actually represented this area, this neighborhood where this crash happened, in congress a short time ago. >> i feel real lick i to be here today. >> reporter: former congressman patrick murphy was on his way home from washington d.c. things went wrong when the trainee was riding on got to port richmond a neighborhood he used to represent.

>> we just went back, hard left like we were tilting and we went back the other way and flipped over. >> reporter: he was sitting on the left side of the cafe car at a table when he found himself thrown to the other side, dazed and staggered, along with so many others on board, he struggled to get his bearings. when he came to he was amazed at what he saw. >> there was blood everybody was pretty banged up. guy next to me was unconscious. i was just trying to be helpful full. i check my body parts to make sure i was okay. >> reporter: he was enough to try to help others on board. he and others cleared his section of the car and made for another. >> i went to the other side, to the canteena and there were screams over there. people were really hurt. difficult what i did. >> reporter: a scene captured by a picture he posted to twitter. you can see a police officer reach out his hand to a unseen passenger trying to help him or her to safety. something eyewitnesses saw time and time again tuesday

heroics in the face of chaos. >> and no doubt those first responders a arrived here quickly and they acted extremely quickly. one thing we should notice in addition to the heroics from the first responders getting here on the scene we saw things from just ordinary passengers. we heard from many people on the scene last night who said they they did what they could some people were way too injured to be helped by just ordinary people but the people who had sprained ankles, people who might have had broken arms or lacerations on their head they were able to be helped by those ordinary riders on the train who weren't that injured themselves. certainly something to be noted a bit of positivity amid a very negative situation. we are live in port richmond, matt rivers, for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >> we are seeing so many examples of heroism everyone you talk to on board this train last night will tell you about someone who was there to help whether it was first responder or another passenger. i spoke with the pass evening shore survived this crash last night. we will have that conversation

in a few minutes. but first lets get a check of the medical health, the injured survivors got last night from philadelphia's world last medical community. our stephanie stahl is standing by live for us, at temple university hospital, where some of most seriously treated have been, seriously injured rather had been treated, stephanie. >> reporter: that is right many hospitals called into duty last night. here at temple we have 23 patient from his that derailment, still hospitalized, eight in critical condition, would be died here last night. they were expecting much worse from a scene described as a mass casualty alert. >> a lot of people were kicking down, kicking out the windows. there was a lo people that were trying to jump out of the back. >> reporter: kail even boneham says he was lucky to escape the the the train wreckage without being another justly injured. he was among 54 train passengers treated at temple university hospital. doctor herb cushion is the chief medical officer. >> stephanie, i was surprised given how hard the impact was

when these folks rattled around in the car train. we saw very little in the way of head injury. one patient with the head injury and lots and lots of patient was rib fractures suggesting they hit their chest cage har patient was fractures of the legs and the the arms. so the surprising thing for me was that we didn't have as many folks that really needed neurosurgeonry. >> reporter: right after the derailment temple and other hospitals went on trauma alert, all hand on deck. temple received the most seriously injured. >> everybody i trained was helping people. there was some older people on that train that need add lot of assistance, you know, people stepped up. there is no doubt. >> reporter: there are many incredible stories of survival and people helping people, medical teams here at temple and many other hospitals around philadelphia, saving so many lives. reporting live from temple university hospital i'm stephanie stahl cbs-3 "eyewitness news". they did a remarkable job last night stephanie and

incredible work certainly continues today. we know the injured are in very good hands in philadelphia's medical community. so again latest news from the scene tonight word from the ntsb, this train was traveling at 106 miles per hour, last night, and the brakes were applied, it slowed down to 102 miles an hour, that was its last recorded speed but that was also as it entered this curve here in port richmond where speed limit is 50 miles an hour. we know it then jumped track killing these seven people, injuring 200 more. we don't know if that is soul cause there could have been other factors but certainly guess cat speed of this train last night is going to be a focus of this investigation as it moves forward. >> chris ntsb was there where you are in port richmond on the scene giving their update not too long ago, about an hour ago and they mentioned some technology in place in other place's cross the the country that can slow trains down that was going too fast but it was not in place here is that correct. >> that is exactly right jessica. that is exactly what this

technology does. it is gps based. it is basically installed in different routes of amtrak service around the the north east but not installed here in port richmond. it can measure when a train is speeding and then in a dangerous position and automatically slow that train down but as ntsb mentioned, it is not inn talked here in port richmond even though congressman dated it be installed along all of amtrak's routes by the end of this year. ntsb spokesmen said tonight had that technology been in place here in port richmond this accident last night probably would not have happened. >> wow, just incredible. chris, we will check with you later. in the meantime the red cross is mobilizing. officials set up a resource center at 30th street station in philadelphia. volunteers helping survivors of the crash fine buses cabs, alternate ways home. by mid-morning the red cross had helped about 60 people there. amtrak engineer from the train, met with philadelphia police and he is at center of

the investigation now. "eyewitness news" reporter cleve bryan is live at east detectives with more on this piece of the story cleve. >> reporter: police are not telling us what the engineer had to say, they are not even revealing his identity right now. we have been camped out, outside the police station all day long, hoping to get a glimpse of the engineer but we did not see him. we understand his lawyer was with him today. however we did try to question anybody going in and out of the meet to get the any insight, into how this derailment happened. any of the engineer, are you the engineer, sir. anything you can say about the crash, speed what are you looking at today. >> the engineer was injured received medical care, and was then interview by the philadelphia police department and made whatever statement that he may have made.

i do not know what his statement is and i'm not in a position to talk about that. >> reporter: ntsb says they have not spoken to the engineer as of right now they want to give him sometime to recuperate, collect his thoughts before they get to that piece of the investigation. they say top priority is collecting all of the physical evidence things at the scene may change overtime. but we know that they do have to look at was human error a fact or in this derailment. reporting live, cleve bryan cbs-3 "eyewitness news". long way to go in the investigation. cleve, thank you. stories of survival coming out of this tragedy are powerful and poignant. chopper three live above that wreckage scene and still ahead we will hear from one man who pulled himself out of those mangled cars and he will tell us the moment that derailment happened what it was like. plus what does it take to investigate an accident of this magnitude. the former head of the ntsb

walks us through the process. the kathy? it is back to the school realities of spring, as high pressure builds back in and intense heatings to the south. but for how long? we will answer that with the seven day coming up

there's over two hundred thousand students in philadelphia. jim kenney and tony williams are fighting over public schools versus charters. i think they're both wrong...it's making sure they all get a good education. teachers should have their contracts respected. they also should be held accountable. and it's wrong philadelphia gets less school funding than

other parts of pennsylvania. i'll work with harrisburg to change that. but if they refuse i'll take them to federal court. as mayor i'll do what's right for them. back on "eyewitness news" and updating our breaking news in the amtrak train derailment in port richmond. we are looking live at chopper three at the crash scene tonight, which remains very, very active. ntsb investigators revealing late this evening that train was traveling 106 miles per hour just before it derailed last night it left the tracks as it rounded a curve at frankford junction where speed limit is just 50 miles per hour. the crash killed seven people, and 200 others were injured.t

attorney says he is closely monitoring the case tonight leaving open the possibility that criminal charges could be filed. welshing while here in port richmond today i ran into a man a financial journalist who uses amtrak's northeast corridor a couple times a year. he was on his way from washington tc on his way home to brooklyn, new york last night when everything went terribly wrong. >> it happened suddenly. >> reporter: jim cutler was on board the quiet car of amtrak 80, first car behind the n's engine. says when it left the track there was no warning. >> we were going around the curve the at some speed. the car went into what seemed to be like flight, for a split second, tipped over, and hit with a thud. >> reporter: jeff found himself buried under debris, luggage, purses, shoes sees that had come apart. by the time he pull himself free and crawled to the even of the broken car first responders had already arrived. he tells me he feels like one of the lucky ones.

a few hours removed f now with reflection, what do you think about how grateful are you to be alive. >> well, i feel, i'm counting my bless answer that i'm in one piece. i feel very sad for those who lost their life. the randomness of this event crosses my mind, who knew, you think you are in the most safe place in the world a train where things like this don't happen. >> jeff plans to spend one more night here in philadelphia and return to brooklyn tomorrow. i canned if he would drive or catch a flight. he said he will take a train but this time he will take new jersey transit. jessica, coming up, we will hear from the former head of the ntsb mark rosenkerr about this crash and preliminary findings they released to day. jessica, we spoke to him last night on the air. he is a very opinionated fellow. we will look forward to that coming up within this half an hour. now back to you in the studio.

>> chris, thanks very much. don't forget is there more information on the amtrak tragedy on our web site at cbs philly.com. there you can get latest video, photos and news conferences, it is all right there on our web site. cbs news anchor scott pelley is here in philadelphia. he will be reporting live from the scene for the "cbs evening news", that is coming up at 6:30 right here after "eyewitness news" at 6:00. kathy is joining us now you with a look at spring-like temperatures. cooler in our area today. >> we will say good bye to umer, back to the cooler realities of may. the it will feel nice out here. cool tonight. if you turn off a the heat you may want to rethink that. take a look outside where it is very pleasant this afternoon. temperatures climbing through the 60's in the lower 70's, that is just bit. this is a right from our cbs-3 studios here in center city philadelphia skies will be cleared. the it will cool down overnight tonight. right now in the city we have a temperature of 69. sixty-two in allentown. look at the poconos cool air is already coming, 49 degrees,

there. some 50's through northeastern, pennsylvania and through state college and this is all moving our way overnight. buffalo, new york already 48 degrees. the it will be a frost and freeze through new york and new england overnight tonight. we will not get that cold. we have northwesterly wind bringing in the cool air, sustained in philadelphia 17 miles an hour. still in allentown. 18 miles an hour sustain wind and that will decrease over the course of the evening and overnight as high pressure builds in. sunny and pleasant for your thursday temperatures more seasonal in the lower 70's. we will bump it up for friday and then we will watch this warm front moving our way for saturday. brings a chance of rain. not a lot but a few showers more than we have seen in quite sometime. we have had quite a dry stretch, been three weeks since we have had a tenth of an inch of rain or more. you have to go back to april 21st, we have a few chances but in the widespread, in the seven day forecast. thursday and friday no rain, saturday and sunday 40 percent

chance each day but this will be just showers. overnight tonight, mainly clear, cool breeze, out of the northwest, low of around 50 in the city. forty's in the suburbs. tomorrow sunny and seasonal. high temperature of 72. hour by hour cool start to the day with the 50's by noon, 65. afternoon activities and in the evening comfortable in the upper 60's and lower 70's. on the exclusive seven day forecast we will stay in the 07's through the workweek. back in the 80's over the weekend and then above average monday and tuesday cooler next wednesday, that is your seven day forecast, we will be back

well, we are looking live at chopper 3hd at the the site have of last night's deadly train derailment here in port richmond and is there breaking news at this hour, cnn is report ago this a wells fargo executive ace among the the seven who died last night in this derailment, gillani worked in insuring in wells fargo hospitality finance group, that word coming down from cnn a wells fargo executive, among the did in last night's crash. tonight as ntsb continues working trying to find out why

this train was barreling down the tracks at twice the speed allowed in this area. the iteam is digging deeper in train derailments and safeguards there to stop them from happening. our iteam reporter charlotte huffman has more. >> reporter: train 188 black box, now in the hand of the ntsb. preliminary analysis of the black box show the train's engineer was going more than a hundred miles per hour, when it derailed on a sharp curve that is limited to just, 50 miles an hour. >> why he was doing that, how that happened, those are answers that are still going to be required by the ntsb before they have a full understanding of what happened. >> reporter: besides speed there are three factors that can cause a train to derail and may have also played a role. equipment failure track failure, or engineer operations like distractions or fatigue. federal regulations limit an engineer and conduct tore a two hour workday but internal audit of amtrak obtained by the iteam show a concerning trend among amtrak employees

exceed ago this two her limit. in 2013 employees reported more than 116,000 instances of working, 16 hours or more, a day. about 83 percent of those reports came from transportation employees which includes, train operators and engineers. regardless of why the engineer was speeding former ntsb chair mark rosenkerr says tuesday's tragedy could have been prevented. >> positive train control could have had a significant impact in helping to prevent this accident. >> reporter: positive train control is a new technology that congress requires carriers to install after 2008 train collision in l.a. that killed 25 people. following the collision ntsb investigators revealed one of the train's operators ran a red light signal because he was texting. >> we feel that had such a system been installed in this section of the track this accident would not the of occurred. >> reporter: now congressman dated carriers install that control system by the end of

this year, a deadline that in this case comes too late. for the iteam i'm charlotte huffman for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >> all right charlotte, thanks much. again ntsb investigators expect to be on the ground in philadelphia for about a week. we will be right back, "eyewitness news" continues after this.

well, one last live look from chopper three over the derailed amtrak train, here in port richmond. federal investigators say that train was traveling twice the speed limit, just before it crashed, and it left the rails last night along a sharp curve

in frankford junction where speed limit was 50 miles an hour. ntsb officials say train's engineer applied emergency brakes just before the crash that killed seven people and injured more than 200 it was in the enough to stop it. tonight, the ntsb has released this stretch of the track to amtrak to get the trains flowing again but jessica, this investigation fares from over. >> somebody said today that thinks a marathon the not a sprint chris. it sound like that is the case on the scene there as well. >> no doubt about it. >> chris may thanks very much. be sure to stay with "eyewitness news" for very latest developments on the amtrak tragedy. we will have latest both on television and on line at cbs philly.com. we are back at ten on the cw philly and back here on cbs-3 at 11:00. up next tonight the "cbs evening news" scott pelley is reporting live from the scene of the deadly derailment in port richmond.

>> pelley: tonight on the "cbs evening news," disaster on america's busiest rail corridor. we'll have the investigation stories of the dead and tales of survival. >> it's scary. it's scary. everybody helped somebody. >> pelley: you can see the disaster most clearly from the air. investigators now say the train was speeding at more than twice the limit. with scott pelley reporting tonight from philadelphia. >> pelley: we are at the scene of the deadliest amtrak wreck in 16 years. it happened right there behind me on the busiest rail corridor in north america. 2,200 trains a day travel those rails between boston and washington.