At least seven people were killed and a dozen injured after a packed Metro-North commuter train caught on fire after striking a vehicle on the tracks north of New York City during the Tuesday evening rush hour.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters during a late-night press conference that the fatality figures were based off “preliminary information,” adding that six of the dead were in the train while one was in the vehicle. He called the scene a “truly ugly and brutal site.”
The reported death toll would make the crash the deadliest in Metro-North history.
“When you look at the damage done, and the damage by the fire, it’s actually amazing that not more people were hurt on that train,” Cuomo said. “The third rail entered the floor of the car, and there are sections of the third rail in the first car.”
Gov Cuomo & MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast tour Valhalla crash site before briefing press pic.twitter.com/HuZ1NmL2bJ
— Melissa DeRosa (@melissadderosa) February 4, 2015
It’s unclear if the third rail entering the car caused the injuries or fatalities. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino also wrote on Twitter that seven were dead.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Thomas F. Prendergast said it was unclear how many were injured, but several media outlets have reported that at least a dozen were hurt. The locomotive engineer was among the injured and was taken to a hospital for treatment, he said.
Front of @MetroNorth train well on fire after hitting car
@NewsTimes @RidgefieldPress pic.twitter.com/OdDaPg1xlK
— JB (@anabolicapple) February 3, 2015
We pray for those lost & injured tonight & laud the first responders who came to the Metro North crash scene so quickly.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 4, 2015
The northbound train struck a Jeep Cherokee at a railroad crossing in Valhalla and the vehicle and the front of the train caught on fire, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said earlier in the evening.
“The resulting fire and explosion of hitting the car consumed the car … and the first car of the train itself,” Cuomo told reporters.
The railroad crossing gates had come down on top of the SUV, which was stopped on the tracks, Donovan said. The driver got out to look at the rear of the vehicle, then she got back in and drove forward and was struck, he said.
In a video posted on Twitter by a rider on the train, dark plumes of smoke can be seen funneling up from the train.
The crash occurred around 6:30 p.m., according to The New York Times. The train pushed the car about 10 train-car lengths up the tracks.
Hundreds of passengers would have been aboard, commuting home to the New York City suburbs. The train normally leaves Grand Central with about 655 people aboard, Prendergast said during the press conference, adding that the maximum allowable speed is 60 miles per hour in the section of track where the crash occurred.
After the crash, rail passengers were moved to the rear of the train, which had left Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan about 45 minutes earlier. About 400 of them were taken to a local rock climbing gym for shelter. Buses were heading there to pick them up and take them to their destinations.