NTSB: Train that derailed was going around 106 mph when emergency breaks applied.

A National Transportation Safety Board official says the engineer of an Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia applied the emergency brakes moments before the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said Wednesday that the train was traveling at 106 mph when the engineer hit the brakes Tuesday night.

The derailment took place as the train entered a curve where the speed limit is 50 mph. The speed limit on the track just prior to the curve is 70 mph.

The accident closed the nation's busiest rail corridor between New York and Washington.

The dead included an employee of The Associated Press and a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy.