FBI: No evidence derailed Amtrak train hit by bullet

An FBI investigation did not find any evidence that the Amtrak train that derailed and killed eight people in Philadelphia last week had been struck by a bullet, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced Monday.

The agency had been looking into damage to the train’s windshield after an assistant conductor said she overheard the train’s engineer say it had been hit by something. She also told investigators she heard a nearby regional train engineer radioing that either a rock or a bullet had hit his train.

The NTSB disclosed the FBI’s findings on Twitter and said that it is not ruling out the “possibility that another object may have struck the Amtrak locomotive windshield.” It added that more updates are expected this week.

The FBI found no evidence of damage to #Amtrak 188 windshield that could have been caused by a firearm.

— NTSB (@NTSB) May 18, 2015

NTSB has not ruled out possibility that another object may have struck the #Amtrak locomotive windshield.

— NTSB (@NTSB) May 18, 2015

Additional updates on #Amtrak the investigation will be issued later this week.

— NTSB (@NTSB) May 18, 2015

Reports began emerging on Twitter late last week of passengers on other trains tweeting that the vehicles were hit by something while passing through a similar area.

Investigators have said that the train traveled into a sharp curve at more than twice the recommended speed for the area, upwards of 100 miles per hour. The engineer triggered the emergency break, but that wasn’t enough to keep the train on the tracks.

The NTSB has said that the engineer is cooperating with investigators but doesn’t remember the crash.