Post date: Dec 01, 2013 6:12:21 PM
A suburban New York train derails killing at least four people and injuring 63, including 11 critically.
THE BRONX, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 1, 2013) (REUTERS) - A suburban New York train derailed on Sunday (December 1), killing at least four people and injuring 63, including 11 critically, when all seven cars of a Metro-North train ran off the tracks on a curved section of the line, officials said.
The crash happened at 7:20 a.m. about 100 yards (meters) north of Metro North's Spuyten Duyvil station in the city's Bronx borough, said Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for Metro North, a subsidiary of New York State's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).A spokesman for the city fire department confirmed the number of dead and said 11 people were in critical condition, six were in serious condition with non-life threatening injuries and another 46 sustained minor injuries.
The train was about half full at the time of the crash, with about 150 passengers, the MTA said.
At least one rail car was lying toppled near the edge of a river and New York Police Departmentdivers were seen in the water near the scene of the accident, and dozens of firefighters were on the scene helping pull people from the wreckage. None of the passengers were in the water, according to Marjorie Anders of Metro-North.
Local residents, most who learned about the tragedy when they heard the sirens of the emergency vehicles said that they were shocked by the scope of the accident.
"Terrible, those poor people. I just keep thinking: 'Those poor people'. We all take this train regularly. I live right up the block. I mean, it's just so sad," said Andrea Levin who lives just a few blocks from the site of the accident.
"I have been living here about 10 years, I am from the area originally. And I have never seen anything like this happen," said another resident, Adam Rudes.
The derailment was the latest in a string of problems this year for Metro North, the second busiest U.S. commuter railroad in terms of monthly ridership.
Local Beth Schafer said that she wasn't surprised by the train accidents.
"I wasn't shocked, because these things seem to happen more and more," she told Reuters.
"But it's very sad for the people whose family lost their lives. It's a very sad, sad tragedy," she added.
In July, 10 cars of a CSX freight train carrying trash derailed in the same vicinity, Anders said. Partial service was restored four days later, but full service did not return for more than a week.
In May, a Metro-North passenger train struck a commuter train between Fairfield and Bridgeport,Connecticut, injuring more than 70 people
and halting service on the line.
The MTA said Sunday's accident marked the first customer fatality in Metro North's three-decade history and that it was a "black day" for the railroad.