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Investigators: Amtrak train speeding before derailing on curve

TED BRIDIS, Associated Press
JACK GILLUM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An analysis by The Associated Press of surveillance video just before the deadly crash of an Amtrak train Tuesday night indicates it was traveling about 107 miles per hour as it approached a curve where the speed limit was only 50 miles per hour.

The video shows the train — which was roughly 662 feet long — passes the camera in just over five seconds.

But AP found that the surveillance video inexplicably plays back slightly slower than in real time.

So, adjusting for the slower playback puts the train’s estimated speed at 107 miles per hour. The surveillance camera was located at a site just before the bend in the tracks.

Light from an apparent explosion is visible in the video just over three seconds after the train passes.

Another body was pulled from the wreckage of the train derailment in Philadelphia, increasing the death toll to seven. A fire official says the body was found as crews combed through the mangled train.  Authorities previously confirmed the deaths of six people. They include an Associated Press employee and a U.S. Naval Academy midshipman.

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