Four people were killed and 63 injured when a Manhattan-bound Metro-North train derailed Sunday morning in the Bronx, toppling cars and tossing passengers around like rag dolls.
At least two passengers were ejected through the windows of the eight-car Hudson line train when it skidded off the tracks at 7:20 a.m. in a sharp bend just north of the Spuyten Duyvil Station.
[h=4]Michael Schwartz for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Rescue workers at the scene helping those injured in the Metro-North train derailment near Spuyten Duyvil.[/h]
Officials said seven cars, including the locomotive, derailed. One car flipped down a river bank, coming to rest just inches from the water where the Harlem River meets the Hudson River.
An FDNY spokesman said 11 people were in critical condition at area hospitals.
[h=4]ERIC THAYER[/h][h=4]Emergency personnel remove train engineer William 'Bill' Rockefeller Jr. from the scene of Sunday's Metro-North train derailment in the Bronx.[/h]
Two women and two men were killed in the crash, a law enforcement source said.
“I was flung six feet,” said survivor Dianna Jackson, 40, of Poughkeepsie as blood streamed down her face.
[h=4]Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Bill Rockefeller Sr., father of Bill Rockefeller Jr., the motor man involved in Sunday's Metro-North train crash in the Bronx, is seen calling police outside his Rhinebeck, N.Y., home.[/h]
Jackson said she was in the third car from the front of the train and that it landed on its side.
PHOTOS: METRO-NORTH TRAIN DERAILS IN NEW YORK: 4 DEAD AND 63 INJURED
[h=4]ERIC THAYER[/h][h=4]Metro-North train engineer William 'Bill' Rockefeller Jr. is one of the 63 people injured critically in Sunday's derailment in the Bronx.[/h]
The engineer, Bill Rockefeller, 45, a 15-year Metro-North veteran, told officials he applied the brakes, but they didn’t respond, a source told the Daily News. Rockefeller was being treated for undisclosed injuries.
The speed limit for the curve is 30 mph. Trains normally slow from 70 mph to safely make the curve, officials said.
[h=4]Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]The dad of the train operator in Sunday's Metro-North derailment, Bill Rockefeller Sr., is shown Sunday outside his home.[/h]
Gov. Cuomo said investigators recovered the train’s “black box” which records the speed and will note if the engineer tried to apply the brakes.
Among the injured was a female NYPD officer in her 20s who was on her way to work. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly visited her at St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was being treated for broken ribs and leg and shoulder injuries.
[h=4]David Torres[/h][h=4]Rescuers transfer injured Metro-North train engineer William 'Bill' Rockefeller Jr. from the site of Sunday's train derailment in the Bronx.[/h]
Kelly also visited four other off-duty NYPD officers who were aboard the train. Two of the cops were treated at the scene and two were taken to Montefiore Medical Center.
Hundreds of first responders raced to the horrific crash, finding the walking wounded dazed and confused and other passengers still trapped inside overturned cars.
[h=4]Richard Harbus/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]A car from the derailed train sits dangerously close to the Hudson River.[/h]
NYPD scuba divers searched the river for passengers and rescuers with cadaver dogs looked under toppled cars, fearing other survivors had been ejected.
RELATED: AMTRAK TRAIN DERAILS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
[h=4]Richard Harbus/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Injured train passengers were rushed to local hospitals on Sunday. [/h]
Cuomo said all passengers and crew members had been accounted for.
“What we do know is four people lost their lives in the holiday season after Thanksgiving,” Cuomo said from the crash site, calling on New Yorkers to pray for the injured and the loved ones of those who per.
[h=4]Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]A aerial view of a Metro-North train that derailed near the near the Spuyten Duyvil Station in the Bronx, killeing at least four people.[/h]
More than 150 were aboard the train that originated in Poughkeepsie at 5:54 a.m. and was headed to Grand Central Terminal.
Many passengers, including some going home after the long holiday weekend, were asleep when they were jarred awake by screeching metal, screams and a loud bang as cars left the rails.
[h=4]Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Passengers have reported taking a curve fast before the train derailed on Sunday morning.[/h]
Survivors said the violent crash sent passengers somersaulting from their seats, some landing on top of each other.
“All the sudden the woman sitting in front of me was on my lap,” said Joseph Melendez, 44, a hotel manager from Poughkepsie. “The train was totally on its side. People were tossed all around.
[h=4]Barry Williams for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Rescue workers rushed to the Metro-North train derailment on Sunday just outside of the Spuyten Duyvil Station.[/h]
“I saw a woman pinned between the chair and the gravel,” said Melendez. “The windows blew out when the train fell and she went through the window. She was alive I think, but in bad condition.”
RELATED: F TRAIN COMES TO A HALT DUE TO SNAPPED TRACK
[h=4]Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]A aerial view of the Metro-North train derailment shows its location in the Bronx and its proximity to the city.[/h]
A dozen of the injured passengers were taken St. Barnabas Hospital, where officials said two were in critical condition — including a 43-year-old man with a spinal cord injury and a 21-year-old woman with severe lacerations. A 14-year-old boy and his father were also treated at St. Barnabas.
Another 17 survivors taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where four were in critical condition.
[h=4]Richard Harbus/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Dozens were reported injured in the accident.[/h]
Jacobi Medical Center was treating 13 passengers, none were in critical condition.
“Folks are stunned. They’re traumatized. Certainly some will suffer from some form of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),” said Dr. Ernest Patti of St. Barnabas. “This will be a trying thing for them to get back on a train.”
[h=4]Felix Lam for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]‘There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train,’ said Joel Zaritsky.[/h]
Survivor Sharelle Coore, 19, a student at the University of Delaware, told relatives that a woman sitting in front of her was ejected through the window of the train.
Coore landed on the ceiling of the car she was riding in with her legs wrapped around the luggage rack, said her cousin Lisa Delgado of Washington Heights.
[h=4]Barry Williams for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]A Metro-North passenger train derailed Sunday morning as holiday travelers made their way home from Thanksgiving celebrations.[/h]
Thankful to be alive, Coore told relatives from her hospital bed at New York-Presbyterian, “God is good.”
RELATED: METRO-NORTH WOES CONTINUE
[h=4]Richard Harbus/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]The train was heading to Manhattan when it derailed Sunday morning, injuring dozens and killing four.[/h]
The National Transportation Safety Board immediately dispatched a “go-team” to investigate the accident.
Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino said NTSB investigators would examine “the track itself to see if it was stable.”
[h=4]Google[/h][h=4]A locator map shows the Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North Railroad Station. [/h]
At the White House, President Obama said his “thoughts and prayers” went out to the injured and the loved ones of those killed.
“The White House will continue to stay in contact with the federal, state and local partners as they respond to this event,” Obama said in a statement.
[h=4]Daniel Cohen via Twitter[/h][h=4]An overhead view of the Metro-North Train derailment that occurred Sunday.[/h]
The incident marked at least six Metro-North train derailments of in the past two years.
On May 17, 70 people were injured when two Metro-North trains collided after a derailment near Bridgeport, Conn.
[h=4]EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT[/h][h=4]Gov. Cuomo arrives at the scene of the train derailment.[/h]
In July, a 25-car CSX garbage train derailed and damaged tracks on the Metro-North Hudson line near the Spuyten Duyvil Station — named after a nearby creek which means “Spouting Devil” in Dutch.
RELATED: ENGINEER: COULDN’T STOP FATAL METRO-NORTH TRAIN HIT
[h=4]Richard Harbus/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Firefighters help a woman who in a sling who was injured in the Metro-North train derailment Spuyten Duyvil.[/h]
William Herbert, 53, a former Metro-North maintenance worker, said his wife, Maria, 45, was an assistant conductor on the train that derailed Sunday. His wife was being treated at New York-Presbyterian for rib and shoulder injuries.
“Thank god she’s alive,” Herbert said. “If the train went into the water, that would have been it.”
[h=4]Alex Rud for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Eddie Russel, who was on the train when it derailed, said he had some back soreness, but no serious injuries.[/h]
Enraged by the accident, Herbert blasted the MTA, saying the agency has been cutting corners when it comes to safety.
“The MTA is not the greatest organization,” Herbert said. “It’s all about the money. It’s ‘save money first and safety second.’”
With Denis Slattery, Aaron Short, Joel Landau, Caitlin Nolan and News Wire Service
[h=4]Barry Williams for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Dianna Jackson, right, comforts fellow Metro North survivor Katrina Frazier. [/h]
[h=4]Barry Williams for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Rescue workers pull victims out of a Metro-North train derailment south of the Spuyten Duyvil station Sunday.[/h]
[h=4]Barry Williams for New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Rescue workers pull victims out of a Metro-North train derailment south of the Spuyten Duyvil station Sunday.[/h]
[h=4]Daniel Cohen via Twitter[/h][h=4]The Metro-North train that derailed Sunday morning sent cars flying dangerously close to the water.[/h]
[email protected]
[h=4]Richard Harbus/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]A rescue worker stands atop one of the five cars that came off the track, this one having fallen on its side.[/h]
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[h=4]Richard Harbus/New York Daily News[/h][h=4]Rescue workers treat passengers injured in the Metro-North Hudson River line derailment that occurred on Sunday morning. [/h]
At least two passengers were ejected through the windows of the eight-car Hudson line train when it skidded off the tracks at 7:20 a.m. in a sharp bend just north of the Spuyten Duyvil Station.
Officials said seven cars, including the locomotive, derailed. One car flipped down a river bank, coming to rest just inches from the water where the Harlem River meets the Hudson River.
An FDNY spokesman said 11 people were in critical condition at area hospitals.
Two women and two men were killed in the crash, a law enforcement source said.
“I was flung six feet,” said survivor Dianna Jackson, 40, of Poughkeepsie as blood streamed down her face.
Jackson said she was in the third car from the front of the train and that it landed on its side.
PHOTOS: METRO-NORTH TRAIN DERAILS IN NEW YORK: 4 DEAD AND 63 INJURED
The engineer, Bill Rockefeller, 45, a 15-year Metro-North veteran, told officials he applied the brakes, but they didn’t respond, a source told the Daily News. Rockefeller was being treated for undisclosed injuries.
The speed limit for the curve is 30 mph. Trains normally slow from 70 mph to safely make the curve, officials said.
Gov. Cuomo said investigators recovered the train’s “black box” which records the speed and will note if the engineer tried to apply the brakes.
Among the injured was a female NYPD officer in her 20s who was on her way to work. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly visited her at St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was being treated for broken ribs and leg and shoulder injuries.
Kelly also visited four other off-duty NYPD officers who were aboard the train. Two of the cops were treated at the scene and two were taken to Montefiore Medical Center.
Hundreds of first responders raced to the horrific crash, finding the walking wounded dazed and confused and other passengers still trapped inside overturned cars.
NYPD scuba divers searched the river for passengers and rescuers with cadaver dogs looked under toppled cars, fearing other survivors had been ejected.
RELATED: AMTRAK TRAIN DERAILS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Cuomo said all passengers and crew members had been accounted for.
“What we do know is four people lost their lives in the holiday season after Thanksgiving,” Cuomo said from the crash site, calling on New Yorkers to pray for the injured and the loved ones of those who per.
More than 150 were aboard the train that originated in Poughkeepsie at 5:54 a.m. and was headed to Grand Central Terminal.
Many passengers, including some going home after the long holiday weekend, were asleep when they were jarred awake by screeching metal, screams and a loud bang as cars left the rails.
Survivors said the violent crash sent passengers somersaulting from their seats, some landing on top of each other.
“All the sudden the woman sitting in front of me was on my lap,” said Joseph Melendez, 44, a hotel manager from Poughkepsie. “The train was totally on its side. People were tossed all around.
“I saw a woman pinned between the chair and the gravel,” said Melendez. “The windows blew out when the train fell and she went through the window. She was alive I think, but in bad condition.”
RELATED: F TRAIN COMES TO A HALT DUE TO SNAPPED TRACK
A dozen of the injured passengers were taken St. Barnabas Hospital, where officials said two were in critical condition — including a 43-year-old man with a spinal cord injury and a 21-year-old woman with severe lacerations. A 14-year-old boy and his father were also treated at St. Barnabas.
Another 17 survivors taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where four were in critical condition.
Jacobi Medical Center was treating 13 passengers, none were in critical condition.
“Folks are stunned. They’re traumatized. Certainly some will suffer from some form of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),” said Dr. Ernest Patti of St. Barnabas. “This will be a trying thing for them to get back on a train.”
Survivor Sharelle Coore, 19, a student at the University of Delaware, told relatives that a woman sitting in front of her was ejected through the window of the train.
Coore landed on the ceiling of the car she was riding in with her legs wrapped around the luggage rack, said her cousin Lisa Delgado of Washington Heights.
Thankful to be alive, Coore told relatives from her hospital bed at New York-Presbyterian, “God is good.”
RELATED: METRO-NORTH WOES CONTINUE
The National Transportation Safety Board immediately dispatched a “go-team” to investigate the accident.
Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino said NTSB investigators would examine “the track itself to see if it was stable.”
At the White House, President Obama said his “thoughts and prayers” went out to the injured and the loved ones of those killed.
“The White House will continue to stay in contact with the federal, state and local partners as they respond to this event,” Obama said in a statement.
The incident marked at least six Metro-North train derailments of in the past two years.
On May 17, 70 people were injured when two Metro-North trains collided after a derailment near Bridgeport, Conn.
In July, a 25-car CSX garbage train derailed and damaged tracks on the Metro-North Hudson line near the Spuyten Duyvil Station — named after a nearby creek which means “Spouting Devil” in Dutch.
RELATED: ENGINEER: COULDN’T STOP FATAL METRO-NORTH TRAIN HIT
William Herbert, 53, a former Metro-North maintenance worker, said his wife, Maria, 45, was an assistant conductor on the train that derailed Sunday. His wife was being treated at New York-Presbyterian for rib and shoulder injuries.
“Thank god she’s alive,” Herbert said. “If the train went into the water, that would have been it.”
Enraged by the accident, Herbert blasted the MTA, saying the agency has been cutting corners when it comes to safety.
“The MTA is not the greatest organization,” Herbert said. “It’s all about the money. It’s ‘save money first and safety second.’”
With Denis Slattery, Aaron Short, Joel Landau, Caitlin Nolan and News Wire Service
[email protected]
ON A MOBILE DEVICE? CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.