Controversial tycoon and businessman Donald Trump has attempted to use a horrific train crash in Philadelphia to further his political career.
The Amtrak train derailed on Tuesday night, killing at least seven people and while 140 others have been hospitalised, six with "critical" injuries.
Emergency services are still working to locate up to 100 people who were on board the New York-bound train, which derailed and tipped over suddenly at 9:30pm local time on its journey from Washington DC. Donald Trump took the opportunity to blame the government for the tragedy and suggest if he were president, it wouldn't have happened.
"Now is not the time to hear your shit Donald," one distraught tweeter replied.
Trump spent $1 million researching a potential 2016 presidential run in 2013, and this is yet another thinly-veiled hint towards a possible campaign.
The real estate tycoon fuelled more speculation about a potential candidacy last week, having hired staff in the key primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The political world is understandably sceptical, however, as Trump has been publicly "weighing up the possibility" of a presidential campaign for decades.
In 2000, he thought about standing as a third-party candidate. In 2012, he considered running in the Republican primaries. Trump's broken record "politicians are all talk and no action" rhetoric has been with him since 1987, and continues to shovel attention towards him.
Trump trademarked the statement "Make America Great Again" days after Obama won a second term
As the American 'Apprentice' host utilised the Amtrak disaster to gain political points, local emergency services and politicians were working around the clock to assess the damage caused and save lives of those involved.
"It is an absolute disastrous mess," Mayor Michael Nutter said. "I've never seen anything like this in my life."
"It is a devastating scene down there. We walked the entire length of the train area, and the engine completely separated from the rest of the train, and one of the cars is perpendicular to the rest of the cars. It's unbelievable."
Former Pennsylvania congressman Patrick Murphy, who was on the train, said: "I was holding on to the table for dear life, and because of force just got thrown to the other side of the car head first into the window, and my shoulder hit the guy who was there."
The cause of the derailment is still unknown, with Amtrak shipping in lights and investigators to assess possible causes.
One passenger said: "The front of the train is really mangled. It's a complete wreck. The whole thing is like a pile of metal."
Another shared a video on Instagram of what appears to be a rescue in progress, simply saying "My train crashed".
An Associated Press manager, Paul Cheung, was on the train and said he was watching Netflix when "the train started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake."
"Then suddenly you could see everything starting to shake," he said. "You could see people's stuff flying over me."
Cheung said another passenger urged him to escape from the back of his car, which he did. He said he saw passengers trying to escape through the windows of cars tipped on their sides.
Five crew members and 238 passengers were on board the train.
