The US passenger train that derailed earlier this week in Philadelphia, leaving eight people dead and more than 200 injured, was accelerating moments before the accident, investigators say.
It was also reported on Friday that Philadelphia police have obtained a search warrant for the mobile phone records of the train's engineer, identified as 32-year-old Brandon Bostian.
A video reviewed by National Transportation Safety Board experts shows that just one minute before the crash the train was travelling at more than 112 kilometres an hour and was continuing to accelerate.
It eventually reached a speed of more than 160km/h, or twice the speed limit allowed in that section of track, and investigators are now trying to determine whether the engineer intentionally accelerated.
Bostian's lawyer, Robert Goggin, says his client suffered a concussion and has no recollection of the moment of the derailment, adding that the engineer only recalls that the train was approaching a sharp curve and that he tried to decelerate.
The engineer had his personal mobile phone turned off and stored away in his bag, as required, and had not consumed alcohol or illegal drugs.
The Northeast Regional train, which was travelling from Washington to New York, was carrying 238 passengers and five crew when it derailed on Tuesday night.
The derailment was the deadliest train accident this year in the United States, followed by a February 3 crash in Valhalla, New York, that left seven dead and 12 injured.
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