Updated 8.11pm
A PASSENGER TRAIN has derailed in New York, leading to ‘multiple injuries’ and deaths.
The latest news on the crash is that an MTA spokeswoman says the NYC train derailment has caused multiple fatalities and dozens of injuries, AP reports.
State officials have confirmed that four people have died and at least 67 were injured in the incident.
Some of the 100 to 150 passengers on the early morning Metro-North train from suburban Poughkeepsie to Manhattan were jolted from sleep around 7.20am to screams and the frightening sensation of their compartment rolling over on a bend where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet in the Bronx.
When the motion stopped, four or five of the seven cars were off the rails in the latest, and deadliest, example of this year’s troubles for the nation’s second-biggest commuter railroad.
A New York Fire Department boat approaches the scene. Pic: AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
"Four people lost their lives today in the holiday season, right after Thanksgiving," Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference.
Eleven of the injured were believed to be critically injured and another six seriously hurt, according to the Fire Department.
The train operator was among the injured, Cuomo said.
The Metro-North passenger train derailed on a curved section of track in the Bronx this morning, throwing frightened passengers out of their seats and causing "multiple injuries," authorities said.
The FDNY says the train derailment in the Bronx was reported at 7.20 am local time this morning near the Spuyten Duyvil station. The train left Poughkeepsie at 5.54am and was due to arrive at 7.43am at Grand Central Terminal.
Cuomo said the track did not appear to be faulty, leaving speed as a possible culprit for the crash, but he noted that the National Transportation Safety Board would determine what happened.
Four or five cars on the seven-car train derailed about 100 yards north of the station, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a news release.
But none of the cars entered the Hudson or Harlem rivers, which are adjacent, the MTA said.
The fire department says 130 firefighters are on the scene. There were "multiple injuries," but the extent or severity of the injuries wasn't yet clear, the FDNY said.
The agency says the crash was reported by the engineer and it wasn't clear if any crew members are injured.
A Vine video made by Sheldon Dutes shows that some carriages are at the water's edge.
Metro-North said in a tweet that the Hudson Line service between Croton Harmon and CT is temporarily suspended due to the derailment.
-Additional reporting AP
First published 1pm
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