Commuter train derails in New York City, causing fatalities

All seven cars of a Metro-North commuter train ran off the tracks on a sharp curve in northern New York City on Sunday, killing four people and injuring 63 others – 11 of them critically – officials said.

There was no official word yet on possible causes of the accident.

The crash happened at 7:20 a.m. about 100 yards north of Metro-North's Spuyten Duyvil station in the city's Bronx borough, said Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan.

A Fire Department spokesman confirmed the number of dead and said 11 people had been sent to the hospital in critical condition, along with six people in serious condition with injuries that were not life-threatening. Another 46 people suffered minor injuries.

The train, headed south toward Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, was approximately half full at the time of the crash with about 150 passengers and had not been scheduled to stop at the Spuyten Duyvil station, said the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), parent company of Metro-North.

"On a work day, fully occupied, it would have been a tremendous disaster," New York City Fire Commissioner Salvatore Joseph Cassano told reporters at the scene.

The derailment happened in a wooded area where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet. At least one rail car was lying toppled near the water and others were lying on their sides.

"That is a dangerous area on the track just by design," Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN after touring the site. "The trains are going about 70 miles per hour coming down the straight part of the track. They slow to about 30 miles per hour to make that sharp curve ... where the Hudson River meets the Harlem River, and that is a difficult area of the track."

Cuomo said it appeared that all passengers had been accounted for.

He said recovery of the train's "black box" – a data-recording device similar to those on airplanes – would reveal more about the train's speed, possible mechanical issues and whether brakes were applied.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it would be on the scene investigating the accident for at least the next week, and would focus on track conditions, signaling systems, mechanical equipment and the performance of the train crew.

Passenger Frank Tatulli told television station WABC he had been riding in the first car, and said the train had been traveling "a lot faster" than usual. "The guy was going real fast on the turns, and I just didn't know why because we were making good time. And all of a sudden we derailed on the turn," he said. It could not be immediately confirmed that the train was traveling faster than usual.

Joseph Bruno, who heads the city's Office of Emergency Management, told CNN it appeared that three of the four people killed had been ejected from the train. The MTA and the fire department both said this could not immediately be confirmed.

Michael Keaveney, 22, a security worker whose home overlooks the site, said he had heard a loud bang when the train derailed.

"It woke me up from my sleep," he said. "It looked like (the train) took out a lot of trees on its way over toward the water."

New York police divers were seen in the water near the accident, and dozens of firefighters were helping pull people from the wreckage. None of the passengers were in the water, said Marjorie Anders of Metro-North.

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. The MTA said details about how the accident would affect Monday morning's commute were not yet available.

In July, 10 cars of a CSX freight train carrying trash derailed in the same area, 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, Conn., injuring more than 70 people and halting service on the line.

The MTA said that 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.

Amtrak said its Empire Line service between New York City and Albany was being restored after being halted immediately following the crash. Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service between Boston and Washington was not affected.

Metro-North's Hudson Line service has been suspended between Tarrytown and Grand Central station, and bus service is being provided between White Plains and Tarrytown, the MTA said.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital said it is treating 17 patients from the accident, including four in critical condition. Jacobi Medical Center, which received 13 patients from the accident, said none had critical injuries and several had already been discharged.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the accident, and a White House official said the president's thoughts and prayers were with the friends and families of those involved.

Reuters