Feds to probe Connecticut train crash - CNN

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  • NTSB officials should be on site by Saturday, spokesman says
  • One train derailed then hit a train going the other way, spokeswoman says
  • Two hospitals say they have treated 67 injured people
  • A mayor says it may take weeks to get train service moving again on that key corridor


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(CNN) -- Federal transportation investigators will work to determine what caused two passenger trains to collide during rush hour in Connecticut, sending dozens to the hospital.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board will be at the site of the crash this morning, the agency said.
The two Metro-North passenger trains, heading in opposite directions, collided Friday evening in southwestern Connecticut, damaging both trains and leaving some people critically injured.
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Train derails in Connecticut
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Onlookers gather at the scene of a collision of two commuter trains in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on Friday, May 17.

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Both trains were damaged and dozens were injured, though officials say the injuries aren't believed to be life-threatening.

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Onlookers gather as police cordon off the area.

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A woman injured in the crash is prepared to be transported to the hospital.

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Amtrak also announced early Friday night that it had suspended all travel between New York and Boston indefinitely after the crash.

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Passengers gather as they wait for a bus to pick them up from the scene of the collision.


Trains collide in Connecticut
Trains collide in Connecticut
Trains collide in Connecticut
Trains collide in Connecticut
Trains collide in Connecticut
Trains collide in Connecticut


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Trains collide in Connecticut


The accident occurred when a train heading from New Haven to New York City derailed around 6:10 p.m. That train struck the other train in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said.
Gov. Dannel Malloy told reporters Friday night that five people were "critically injured," one of whom was in "very critical condition."
Two of the 26 people being treated at Bridgeport Hospital were in critical condition, spokesman John Cappiello said Friday.
St. Vincent's Medical Center, also in Bridgeport, treated 41 patients from the incident, hospital spokeswoman Lucinda Ames said. One of those was in serious condition and in intensive care, while the others mostly had minor injuries.
By late Friday night, 11 of the 67 who had gone to hospitals had been released.
A passenger in a middle car of the New York-bound train, Chris Martin, said his car went dark after the crash.
He then heard someone yell over the intercom for "all the doctors up front."
Martin said his crowded train was evacuated. Everybody on his train was physically fine, he said, but many were shaken emotionally. He said he saw injured people outside the train.
Brian Alvarez said he saw the wreckage.
"I saw this one car and it was completely destroyed, and they were pulling people out of the car," Alvarez said. "... They were all bloody."
Power was shut off along the line and service has been halted in the area.
Amtrak also announced Friday night that it had suspended all travel between New York and Boston indefinitely after the crash. Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said such travel headaches could persist for weeks because the two tracks affected by the derailment -- which are both "shot right now" -- may take weeks to repair.
Because of a bridge replacement project, those two tracks are the only way in and out of New York City by train from that part of Connecticut.
"This is our pipeline to New York City, and it's going to be shut down for some time," the mayor said.
CNN's Morgan Winsor, Brittany Brady, Todd Sperry and Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report.

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