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Firefighters survey the scene where a SEPTA trolley derailed and crashed into a house on 42nd and Spruce streets early Monday morning. [Michael Lupoli/The Daily Pennsylvanian]

In what officials are calling a freak accident, a SEPTA trolley derailed early Monday morning, slamming into a house on 42nd and Spruce streets.

Four people -- including the trolley operator and three of the five trolley passengers -- were taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with minor injuries, ranging from back pain to a sore elbow.

The trolley "just came off the track -- everyone started flying around," trolley passenger Jerome Jenkins said, describing what he termed the "humongous crash" of the westbound number 13 train.

The train derailed at approximately 3:03 a.m. while turning left off Spruce Street. Philadelphia and Penn Police, fire units and SEPTA officials arrived on the scene shortly after.

"It knocked out a street light, a traffic signal... and a fire hydrant" before hitting the house, SEPTA engineer Ed La Guardia said of the derailed trolley that took almost five hours to remove from its eventual stopping point.

"It certainly was a sight to behold," La Guardia added. "You usually don't see a trolley sticking out of a house."

David Johnson -- whose first floor unit the trolley entered -- and two other building residents, both students, have been relocated to the Sheraton University City. Campus Apartments, which owns the property, plans to move the three residents into new permanent housing within two days.

"Really, a trolley just hit my house," said Wharton senior Tara Einis, who lives directly above the site of impact, Monday morning.

"I could hear basically like screeching," said College senior Paul Martin, who lives on 42nd Street. "I could hear the breaks locked up on it... it hit something."

"We're securing the building for weather and for safety," Campus Apartments Chief Operating Officer Daniel Bernstein said, noting that the building would require extensive repairs.

Adding that he was unsure if a lawsuit against SEPTA would be forthcoming, Bernstein said transit officials had been "very cooperative."

"I guess they realize it's their responsibility not to smash into a building," he added.

Because no life-threatening injuries occurred, no charges will be filed and a police investigation will not be conducted, according to Philadelphia Police Department officials.

"There's still an ongoing investigation" to be conducted by SEPTA officials, said Felipe Suarez, a SEPTA press officer.

"The driver is [on leave] and will undergo some testing to see if any substances were involved," Suarez added, noting that the trolley and the track will also be examined as officials attempt to piece together what caused the derailment.

Calling derailments "highly uncommon," Vukon Vuchic, a Penn professor of transportation and engineering, said that derailments typically "happen by mechanical defect or driver error."

In general, trolley turns should not be taken at more than 10 miles per hour, Vuchic added.

Watching the accident from within the trolley, passenger John Lenker "saw what probably were sparks coming off of the wheels."

Campus Apartments officials did not yet have an estimate for building damages.

Noting that the building was recently renovated and historically certified, Bernstein said Campus Apartments spent "quite a bit of money -- hundreds of thousands of dollars" on the house last year.

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