Four people are dead and dozens are injured after a commuter train derailed Sunday morning in the Bronx borough of New York City only minutes before its expected arrival in Midtown Manhattan.
Three of the four people were killed when they were ejected from the southbound train, the fourth fatality was discovered inside one of the overturned train cars, officials said during a Sunday morning press briefing.
At least 63 people were injured in the wreck, officials added. The injured were rushed to four separate hospitals - 11 are critical, six are in serious condition.
One man has spinal cord injuries and broken bones, the rest have suffered broken bones and lacerations, accoring to WABC.
The Grand Central Station-bound Metro-North commuter train jumped the tracks near the Spuyten-Duyvil Station just before 7:30am Sunday morning. All seven of the train cars left the tracks, with two turning completely over and one stopping just before the Harlem River.
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Fatal crash: Four people have been reported dead on the scene of the train derailment
Search and rescue: Firefighters scaled the sideways train cars with ladders as they searched for survivors
Horrible tragedy: Several dozen people have been removed from the crash by stretcher - those covered in yellow are deceased
Four people have been confirmed dead on the scene of the early Sunday accident, officials said, adding that they were all riding in the overturned cars.
Three individuals were found dead outside the train, FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano added.
'We believe that three of the four fatalities were thrown from the train,' Mr Cassano said.
Metro North commuter trains do not have seat belts.
All seven of the train's cars jumped the tracks on the Hudson Line train, which runs from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central. Multiple cars are shown are their side, with one only inches from the water.
'It’s obviously a very tragic situation,' New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, 'unfortunately there are four fatalities and 63 people are injured.’
The engineer is among the injured and originally called 911 to report the crash, the governor said, adding he is listed in stable condition at a local hospital.
The train was being pushed by a diesel locomotive in the rear, there is some evidence to suggest fuel has spilled, but that has yet yet to be confirmed.
Some of the survivors were rescued by firefighters using jacks and airbags to lift the train cars off of them, Mr Cassano said.
Between two rivers: The Hudson River is on the right and the Harlem River is on the left - the train derailed on a narrow peninsula between them
Headed to the hospital: A man is taken away on a stretcher at the site of a Sunday morning Metro-North train derailment
Getting help: A woman is taken to an ambulance after surviving the Metro North train derailment
The names of the dead will be released once their families are notified, Mr Cuomo added.
Officials do not expect to discover any more dead or injured, and all the injured are expected to survive.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators are expected to arrive on the scene Sunday afternoon.
Early footage from the scene showed divers in the water and dogs in the brush searching for bodies. At least 130 emergency responders arrived on the scene, an official said.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was notably absent from the press conference.
Dozens of injuries: One of the 63 injured is seen being carried away on stretcher
A sea of help: About 130 emergency responders gathered at the scene of the crash
Almost in the water: The Hudson River can be seen in the background of the train, which stopped just short of the East River after derailing
On the edge: The train stopped just before the water
In the water: Police divers searched the water for additional bodies after reports passengers were thrown from the train
Like toy cars: Train cars were scattered across the tracks and into the brush like toys
Witnesses told News 12 they saw several people being taken away on stretchers.
The southbound train jumped the tracks as it came around a turn away from the Hudson River towards the Harlem River immediately before the waterside station.
METRO NORTH INCIDENTS IN 2013
- On Sept. 25, a feeder cable in suburban Mount Vernon, N.Y., failed, knocking out power for 12 days to Metro-North's New Haven line, which carries 132,000 commuters daily
- On July 18, 10 freight train cars hauling garbage derailed in New York City, service was suspended
- On May 28, track foreman Robert Luden was struck and killed by a passenger train in West Haven, Conn
- On May 17, an eastbound train derailed in Bridgeport, Conn., and was struck by a westbound train. The accident injured 73 passengers, two engineers and a conductor
Source: Associated Press
Passengers laid blame on the driver, telling local media the train was driving much faster than usual.
Frank Tatulli, a rider who escaped the wreck with head and neck injuries, told WABC the train was traveling at a higher than normal rate of speed when it derailed, 'a lot faster.'
Mr Tatulli added that he rides the train every Sunday morning and escaped on his own before responders arrived.
'All of a sudden the train was a little more sideways than it should be, then I looked up and it was on its side... I didn't realize what shape the other train cars were in, I was lucky,' a rider told WABC.
A witness told the Daily News she believed the train was traveling too fast approaching the turn, which does have a speed restriction.
'My daughter wasn't on that train, thank God,' Ellen Stevenson told the paper. 'I heard a loud screeching, like a loud grind. Something wasn't right. It was going too fast.'
Sources told the Daily News the driver claims he applied the brakes but they didn't respond.
'We are just not sure” what caused the derailment,' an MTA spokesperson told the New York Times. 'That will be the subject of a detailed investigation.'
In the Bronx: The train derailed immediately before the Spuyten-Duyvill station as it came around a bend away from the Hudson River
Police and fire: A police boat is seen in the water next to a fire boat just yards from the crash
Assessing the damage: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo arrived on the scene just after 9:30am Sunday morning
Another rider described the horrific accident to the Daily News.
'We left the Tarrytown stop, the next stop was 125 St.,' said Dianna Jackson, 40, of Poughkeepsie. 'The driver was going around the curve really fast. Next thing you know [we're] in middle of a wreckage.'
'I was sitting in the first seat in the front of the car facing backwards,' she continued. 'I was flung six feet. I landed on the shattered window (on the side of the train that hit the ground). I was lying on my back, gravel was flying everywhere.'
'I was dragging along the ground... Maybe it was a minute, it felt like an eternity, I just wanted it to stop... I had gravel in my teeth, I was eating rocks,' she recalled. 'But I was grateful to be eating rocks because I'm still alive.'
Another witness said the accident sounded like the road of a jet engine.
'I was at my desk at my computer and I thought a plane was coming in,' Steve Kronenberg told 1010 WINS. 'I jumped away. Then after the noise stopped, I looked out the window and saw the train derailment.'
Other witnesses told the Daily News of the horror from inside the train.
'The train was going very fast. As you went around the curve you could feel the train going on its side,' Dennis O'Neill said. 'You saw one track going straight, we were on a turning track i think and just started falling away.'
'It was dark, but you could see people were asking everyone if they were OK...it was smoky, the entire thing was filled with dust...it was awful, we're lucky to be alive,' he added.
'I saw a woman pinned between the chair and the gravel,' said Joseph Melendez. 'The windows blew out when the train fell and she went through the window. She was alive I think, but in bad condition.'
Another witness recalled the crash caused him to be immediately disoriented.
'I didn't know if we were on a bridge or over the water,' Steven Chicoree said. 'I didn't know if we were falling off of something. I thought we were going to die.'
Taking charge: New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (3L) inspects the damage along with emergency crews
Fatal accident: All four people that died were either in or thrown from the overturned train cars
A mass of humanity: Emergency crews help injured passengers after a Metro-North train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station
Early morning rush: The Sunday morning train was likely less-packed than a weekday train, hopefully limiting injuries
'I was asleep and I woke up when the car started rolling several times,' said a bloody Joe Zaritsky. 'Then I saw the gravel coming at me, and I heard people screaming. There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train.'
When the train went over and slammed into the ground, all of the track bed debris came up through the train windows and covered passengers in dust a witness told WABC, which said she looked like she was covered in soot.
Sunday's accident is the second passenger train derailment in six months for the rail service and presents Metro-North with another problem in a year plagued by safety issues.
On May 17, an eastbound train derailed in Bridgeport, Conn., and was struck by a westbound train. The crash injured 73 passengers, two engineers and a conductor. Eleven days later, track foreman Robert Luden was struck and killed by a train in West Haven, Conn.
A matter of inches: The train's lead car came to rest in brush only inches from the water
Derailed: A train carrying commuters in Manhattan has jumped the tracks
Several injuries: Multiple people have been shown being taken away on stretchers
Earlier this month, Metro-North's chief engineer, Robert Puciloski, told members of the NTSB investigating the May derailment and Ludent's death that the railroad is "behind in several areas," including a five-year schedule of cyclical maintenance that had not been conducted in the area of the Bridgeport derailment since 2005.
The NTSB issued an urgent recommendation to Metro-North that it use "redundant protection" such as a procedure known as "shunting" in which crews attach a device to the rail in a work zone alerting the dispatcher to inform approaching trains to stop.
A separate derailment also happened July 18 at roughly the same spot as the Sunday derailment, luckily that incident was only a trash train carrying garbage. Officials were unable to speak to whether the repaired tracks were at fault in Sunday's accident.
The Hudson Line runs along the Hudson River for the majority of its roughly 80-mile stretch, it is one of the busiest commuter lines into the United States’ busiest train terminal.
An advisory posted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority advised that ‘Hudson Line Customers will experience indefinite delays south of Croton Harmon.’
A separate notice from city government advised that alternate transportation is being arranged in the area.
Amtrak trains also run along the line and split off just before the scene of the accident.
The train operator said Empire service was halted between New York City and Albany after the derailment. Amtrak said its Northeast Corridor service between Boston and Washington was unaffected.
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