Amtrak derailment kills 6 in Florida

Rescue workers remove an injured passenger from the derailed Amtrak train Thursday.

SEVILLE, Florida (CNN) -- At least six people died and 153 were injured, 20 critically, when an Amtrak train derailed Thursday afternoon in rural northeastern Florida, authorities said.

Amtrak train No. 52 -- the Auto Train from Sanford, Florida, near Orlando, to Lorton, Virginia, outside Washington -- careened off the track Thursday around 5:08 p.m. EDT, just over an hour after departing, railroad officials said.

"It was like the whole world was coming to an end," said Ken Clark, an elderly passenger from Pennsylvania who clambered with his wife outside their car and waited for help.

Amtrak is still investigating the cause of the crash, spokeswoman Kajal Jhaveri said. The train's conductor had not reported any problems prior to the crash, another Amtrak spokesman said.

The train had 425 passengers and 28 crew members aboard when it derailed in Seville, Florida, about 25 miles northwest of Daytona Beach and 44 miles north of Sanford, Amtrak officials said.

EXTRA INFORMATION Route map of derailed Amtrak train  Scenes from the derailment  Recent Amtrak accidents

The Auto Train transports cars, vans, and motorcycles and is popular with families traveling on vacation. The train consisted of two engines, 16 passenger cars and 23 auto racks containing at least 200 vehicles, an Amtrak spokesman said.

County officials said 35 of the cars had jumped the tracks, which are owned, operated and maintained by CSX operation.

Passengers crawled out of windows and stood on the overturned cars as rescuers brought stretchers to the scene early Thursday evening. Seventy-five people were trapped inside one of the cars until being rescued before nightfall, Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesman Chris Doyle said.

Buses transported 350 people to to nearby Crescent City High School, where they could eat, get clothes and find overnight accommodations at local hotels, Doyle said.

Rescuers help passengers out of one of the derailed train cars.

The family affairs staff of the National Transportation Safety Board, a federal agency that investigates major transportation accidents, will also assist in addressing the "immediate needs" of victims and informing them of developments in the investigation, NTSB spokesman Greg Martin said.

The Red Cross is sending mental health workers to the accident site and Lorton station to help passengers, family members and emergency workers, said Carol Miller, a spokesman for the humanitarian group. The Red Cross will serve meals to workers and passengers at the scene and looking for shelter sites, she added.

Amtrak has established a toll-free number -- 1-800-523-9101 -- through which friends and family of passengers on the train can get information about the crash.