At least five people lost their lives after an Amtrak train bound for New York City derailed north of Philadelphia on Tuesday. The accident left 65 people injured and six of them are in a critical condition.

The passengers boarded the Amtrak Regional 188, which was travelling to New York from Washington, D. C. There were 238 passengers and five crew members when the train went out of the track at around 9:30 pm ET.

"It is an absolute disastrous mess. Never seen anything like this in my life. He said there were cars completely overturned, on their side, ripped apart", Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told reporters after visiting the scene of the crash.

Witnesses said the front of the train went into a turn when it shook. It has been learnt from two sources that the train went off the track at a point where a 70 mph stretch goes into a 50 mph curve. But they said that it can't be confirmed as of now that the curve or speed were factors.

The crash caused derailment of all six train cars and some of them fell on their sides. Officials said the passengers and luggage around flung as the cars fell on their sides.

Max Helfman, 19, boarded the train to return home in New Jersey, but the train car he was in flipped over. He said screws came out from chairs inside the train and suitcases began falling on people. He said that his mother flew into her and he had to quickly come into action to catch her.

Nutter told reporters that an investigation has been launched into the matter but nothing is known so far related to what happened there and why it happened. There is no evidence that shows the derailment was the result of an impact with another train.