New York train crash kills passengers
February 4, 2015The train struck a vehicle on the tracks at a railroad crossing in Valhalla, outside of New York City, on Tuesday evening, according to a spokesman for the Metro-North Railroad.
The spokesman, Aaron Donovan, said the vehicle's female driver and five train passengers were killed. The vehicle and the front of the train caught fire following the crash.
The train had left New York City's Grand Central Terminal about 45 minutes earlier.
Donovan said railroad crossing tracks had come down on top of the car, stopped on the tracks. The driver then got out to look at the rear of the vehicle, but was stuck after she got back in and drove forward.
He said the train shoved the car forward, with both catching fire.
The railroad serves around 280,000 passengers a day in New York and Connecticut. Metro-North is the second-busiest railroad in the United States.
jr/bk (AP, AFP)