A New York commuter train derailed Wednesday during the morning rush at a station in Brooklyn, sparking chaotic scenes and leaving more than 100 people with minor injuries.
The accident at Atlantic Terminal in the heart of the New York borough came less than four months after a fatal crash on another commuter line in New Jersey, when a speeding train derailed and slammed into a station.
Passengers rushed out as smoke filled the tunnel following Wednesday’s crash of a Long Island Rail Road train around 8:30 am (1330 GMT). The impact bent the train’s doors and smashed windows.
Some of the injured were brought out on stretchers.
Commuter Aaron Neufeld said on Twitter that the crash was “crazy,” but added: “Seems only a few people are lightly injured.”
Television footage showed passengers holding ice packs to their heads and nursing bloody noses.
“I was getting up from my seat and there was a loud impact and I flew forward and then flew backward,” a passenger named Amanda told local network CBS2.
“It was total chaos, there was smoke on the train and we were sitting there in shock.”
Officials — visibly relieved the crash left no one dead or seriously hurt – said the causes of the derailment were unclear and they were launching an investigation.
“103 injuries reported at scene of Atlantic Terminal LIRR train derailment, all non-life-threatening,” the New York Fire Department said in a tweet.
A fire department official said the train carried 600 to 700 people, and the first two cars were seriously damaged. More info
By AFP emirates247.com
