Seven dead as New York commuter train smashes into car stranded on tracks
SEVEN people have died this morning after a crowded commuter train smashed into a car and burst into flames outside New York City.
Dozens were injured when the busy commuter train struck a Jeep Cherokee on the tracks at a railway crossing in Valhalla, some 20 miles north of New York City.
New York commuter train crash
I am amazed anyone got off that train alive. It must have been pure panic, with the flames, the third rail and the smoke
Hundreds of passengers scrambled out of the burning wreckage to safety.
The impact was so forceful that a rail buckled, came up and pierced the Metro-North railway train – which was carrying more than 750 passengers.
"I am amazed anyone got off that train alive," said Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
"It must have been pure panic, with the flames, the third rail and the smoke."
Mr Astorino said the front part of the train was "completely charred and burned".
The incident occurred when the female driver of the Jeep had stopped to inspect the rear of the vehicle when the crossing's safety gates came down around her.
The woman got back in her car and was trying to drive forward when she was hit and killed, authorities said.
The train pushed the vehicle down the track the length of almost ten train carriages.
The crash occurred in a wooded area near a cemetery around 6:30am local time (11:30GMT).
"This is a truly ugly and brutal sight," said the Governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo.
Commuter Justin Kaback told ABC news: "I was trapped. You know there was people in front of me and behind me, and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was getting very hot.
"All the air was turned off so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary especially when people are walking by on the outside and they said, 'The train's on fire. There's a fire'."
Another passenger, Neil Rader said frantic survivors were breaking the glass in doors to get out of the train carriage.
He described seeing more than 50 ambulances at the scene, adding: "I've never seen anything quite like it".
Some 400 passengers evacuated from the train were taken to a local rock climbing gym for shelter.
Buses were later sent to the centre to pick up the passengers to take them on to their final destinations.
Officials would not comment on whether the railroad crossing gates were working properly at the time of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team to investigate the cause of the fatal wreck.
Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railway, after the Long Island Rail Road.
Service on a portion of the Harlem Line was suspended after the crash.
