A New Jersey Transit train plowed through a major station in Hoboken during Thursday morning’s rush-hour commute, killing at least one person and injuring 100 others, some seriously, local officials said.
Witnesses said the train slammed into a block that’s supposed mark the track’s end, went airborne and plowed through a passenger concourse at about 8:45 a.m. at the terminal, one of the busiest transit hubs in the New York metropolitan area.
Images posted on social media showed severe structural damage at the terminal, where part of the roof appeared to have collapsed. Witnesses described people helping bloodied passengers, some trapped by debris, from the packed front car.
The person killed in Thursday’s train crash in Hoboken was standing on the platform when the train came into the station, according to two officials briefed on the matter. The train engineer, who an official said earlier was unresponsive when removed from the train, is now hospitalized, according to the two officials.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into Thursday’s crash will examine similarities between this incident and a train crash that happened at the same station in May 2011, NTSB Vice Chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr said.
Bhagyesh Shah, who rode in the back of the front car on his way to work, said the train didn’t appear to slow as it entered the station.
“The next thing I know, I’m on the floor. We are plowing through something … and when the train came to a stop, I could see the parts of the roof on the first car and some of the debris next to me,” Shah said.
A NJ Transit worker who was at the station said he heard an “explosion”-like sound as the lead car, coming into the station fast, slammed into the bumper block.
“It went up and over the bumper block, through the depot … and came to rest at the wall by the waiting room,” the worker, Mike Larson, said.
“It was going considerably faster than it should have normally been.”
Half of the first car was crumpled and the roof crushed down to the seats, he said. The train should have stopped 10-20 feet before the bumper block, he said.
The train’s engineer was removed, unresponsive, from the train after the crash, an official assisting with rescue operation and briefed on developments told CNN.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the crash’s cause. Everyone who was trapped has been removed from the train, Gov. Chris Christie said late Thursday morning.
Massive train crash at #Hoboken Path Station. Injuries reported. Train apparently ran full force into station. pic.twitter.com/rgt9pycnL4
— Nicolette (@NewsNicolette) September 29, 2016
