6 dead as train hits car near NY

Mount Pleasant, Six persons were killed and a dozen injured when a crowded New York commuter train struck a car stalled on the tracks near suburban White Plains during rush hour on Tuesday evening, in what officials said was the railroad’s deadliest accident.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told CBS News on Wednesday that a new review found that five persons had died on the train when the train was hit during the evening rush hour. The driver of the Jeep Cherokee that the train struck while it was stuck on the tracks also died.Some 15 people were injured with seven in very serious condition, he added.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the crash was the deadliest accident for Metro-North, the second largest commuter railroad in the US.The crash also meant that thousands of commuters faced a snarled journey to work on Wednesday morning.MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said roughly 45,000 riders take the Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line on an average weekday, about 14,000 of whom board north of where the crash occurred and would be directly affected.

Parts of the line would stay closed on Wednesday, according to the MTA, which was arranging for shuttle buses to fill the gap and warned of crowding and delays.The third rail, which carries 750 volts of direct current, tore through the floor of the first car of the train, charring the carriage and sending billows of smoke into the air. Damage to the other seven cars was minimal. Hundreds of passengers from the eight-car train were taken to a rock-climbing gym for shelter, authorities said.

Jared Woodard, an employee of BGC Financial in New York, who was on the train traveling home to Chappaqua, described the frightening scenes as the train was evacuated.“The smoke was orange coming off the train, it was still on fire at that point. The front car was billowing heavy smoke out of the windows and doors,” Woodard said. Media reports said the driver of the car got out briefly to try to push it off the tracks, then got back in — Reuters