Two teenage girls were hit and killed by an Amtrak train in Delaware County, nine miles south of Philadelphia 30th Street Station Thursday morning.
Police are investigating whether the fatal collision was an accident or suicide.
The Interboro High School sophomores, which family members identified to NBC Philadelphia as Gina Gentile and Vanessa Dorwart, were struck and killed by a high-speed Acela train10:28 a.m. while they were standing on the tracks.
Family and friends of the two 15-year-old girls gathered at the accident site at 501 Welcome Avenue in Norwood Thursday morning.
The deaths of the two girls make a total of three Interboro High School students who have died in a little more than a month.
Friends of the teens told NBC Philadelphia that the two sophomores were still mourning the moss of Bill Bradley, also an Interboro High School student. Bradley, 17, was hit by a car while riding his bike in Glenolden on Jan. 19.
Facebook and MySpace pages of Dorwart and Gentile lament the recent death of Bradley.
“Bill. Life without you here is not going to be the same,” Gentile wrote on the “R.I.P. Bill Bradley” Facebook page. “Save a spot for me Pumpkinn.”
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
According to Norwood police, a third girl was at the scene when the girls were struck. She is talking with authorities.
Witnesses say the girls standing on the southbound side shortly before the accident. Bruce Wright, who didn't see the train hit the girls, said that he heard the girls yelling or arguing and one of the teens was on a cell phone.
"I don't know why they tried to cross, there's no way to get over there," Wright said.
Because of the fatal accident, Amtrak placed all four tracks south of Philadelphia on hold for about two hours. Rail traffic is now moving but passengers should expect delays.
The Acela train 2151 that hit the two teens runs from Boston to Washington D.C. through New York and Philadelphia. Northbound Amtrak trains 2158, 86 and 184 were stopped for at least two hours because of the accident.
High-speed Acela trains are allowed to go as fast as 110 m.p.h. through the area.
