Three killed on derailed US passenger train

An Amtrak train from Florida to the Washington DC-area has derailed, killing at least three people and trapping 75 others, officials said.

US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials said at least three people were killed but the report of deaths could not be immediately confirmed.

In Washington, NTSB spokesman Greg Martin said the agency was getting preliminary information and would send a team of investigators to the accident scene.

A dispatcher at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said 10 cars derailed on the 427-passenger Auto Train near Crescent City, 61 miles north of Orlando, Florida.

Television helicopter shots showed cars on their sides scattered along the tracks. Firefighters, carrying backboards, were climbing through windows to get inside the cars.

The train carries vehicles and passengers between the Orlando area and Virginia.