Four dead and 63 injured as all seven cars of a NYC commuter train fly off the rails

22:01 | 02.12.2013
Four dead and 63 injured as all seven cars of a NYC commuter train fly off the rails

Four dead and 63 injured as all seven cars of a NYC commuter train fly off the rails

The death toll in the New York Metro-North train crash could rise - with investigators looking for more bodies trapped under the wreckage.Heavy-lifting cranes are being brought in to move the carriages, strewn on the tracks in The Bronx, New York.Officials believe they have accounted for everyone on board and emergency services have searched the train thoroughly, but they cannot rule out the possibility that more dead bodies are buried. Three of the four confirmed dead -  two men and two women - were thrown from the train on impact and there are fears that could have happened to more passengers.Steve Morello, a spokesperson for Metropolitan Transportation Administration (MTA), said: 'The police and fire department have thoroughly searched the carriages, using a variety of equipment and specially trained dogs.‘They went everywhere they could go in the search’, he said. ‘But there is no passenger manifest on a train so it is impossible to be 100 per cent certain everyone has been accounted for.'A crane is being brought in, which should be here soon and will be able to lift the carriages.'We will be on hand to assist in that operation.'Three of the four people were killed when they were ejected from the southbound train, the fourth fatality was discovered inside one of the overturned train cars, officials said. Multiple witnesses have claimed the train was going too fast.At least 63 people were injured in the wreck, officials added. The injured were rushed to four separate hospitals - 11 are critical, six are in serious condition. One man has spinal cord injuries and broken bones, the rest have suffered broken bones and lacerations, according to WABC.Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have been on the scene since 12.30pm and have recovered the train's black box, a spokesperson said. The NTSB expects to be on the scene for over a week.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the train's recording device would help answer some questions about the underlying cause of the derailment. 'The black box will say what the speed was, whether the brakes were applied before the emergency brakes,' he told CBS.  The governor added that the accident 'would've been much, much worse if this had happened during the week.' The Grand Central Station-bound Metro-North commuter train jumped the tracks near the Spuyten-Duyvil Station just before 7.30am Sunday morning. All seven of the train cars left the tracks, with two turning completely over and one stopping just before the Harlem River.The violent derailment sent people flying through the train cars - some were even ejected from them - as windows smashed open, dirt and gravel shot inside them and the seven car train was left scattered around the tracks like a toy set.'One woman seemed like she had lost most of her head,' a survivor told the Post. 'The side of the car was just covered in her blood.''[The dead woman] was flung out of the car,' she recalled. 'I used my yoga mat to cover her body. I’m probably still not processing it.''It was just a bloodbath,' an FDNY rescuer told the New York Post. 'This is the worse accident scene I’ve ever worked, there was blood everywhere.'This evening, information slowly began to trickle out about the four deceased victims - two men and two women. One of the victims has been identified as 58-year-old Jim Lovell, the husband of Philipstown Deputy Supervisor Nancy Montgomery and a father of four. Lovell and his wife lived in Cold Spring with their four children. Philipstown.info described Mr Lovell as a professional writer who was active in the Democratic Party. The other three victims have been identified tonight as James Ferrari, 59, of Montrose; Donna Smith, 54, of Newburgh, and 35-year-old Ahn Kisook, of Queens.NTSB spokesperson Earl Weener said investigators expect to be on the scene 'a week to 10 days' investigating the cause of the deadly crash.The agency has already green-lit the use of a crane to upright the overturned train cars, Mr Weener said, adding that turning the locomotive over would stop further fuel from spilling.It is not clear how much fuel has spilled.The investigators worked the site throughout the afternoon, but the investigation will begin Monday in earnest, Mr Weener explained, adding that speed is considered a factor.The NTSB will also look into Metro-North maintenance records after expressing earlier this year a concern over how well the train operator's equipment is maintained.Engineer William Rockefeller Jr, 46, has claimed he tried to apply the brakes but they didn't work, according to multiple reports.William Rockefeller Sr. defended his son to the Post, saying 'he’s one of the better engineers, the most dependable. And he really does like trains.'Four people were confirmed dead on the scene of the accident, officials said.They were all riding in the overturned cars. Three individuals were found dead outside the train, FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano added.'We believe that three of the four fatalities were thrown from the train,' Mr Cassano said.Metro North commuter trains do not have seat belts.All seven of the train cars and the locomotive jumped the tracks just before the bend on the Hudson Line train, multiple cars are shown are their side, with one only inches from the Harlem River's icy waters.'It’s obviously a very tragic situation,' Governor Cuomo said, 'unfortunately there are four fatalities and 63 people are injured.’Despite a train earlier this year derailing only feet from this incident, the governor dismissed the track itself being the problem.'The curve has been here for many years, trains take the curve everyday… there has to be another factor.'President Barack Obama said in a statement issued by the White House that his thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of the victims of the derailment.According to the statement, the president was briefed on the accident Sunday morning.The White House added that Obama will continue to stay in touch with New York officials throughout the day.The train left Poughkeepsie at 5.54am and derailed at 7.22am, according to an MTA spokesperson. It was due to arrive at Grand Central at 7.30am.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az
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