NTSB Investigates NYC Rail Crash; 100 Suffer Minor Injuries
NEW YORK (WJZ/AP) — Officials say around three dozen people suffered minor injuries when a Long Island Rail Road either hit something or derailed as it arrived at a terminal in Brooklyn.
The incident occurred around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Online images show the train at a slight angle in its track bed in the busy Atlantic Terminal.
Passengers told TV news crews on the scene that there was a loud bang and a jolt that sent some people flying.
"Boom. And the train just, and people just fell out of their seats," said passenger Tracy Brown.
Some people were carried away on stretchers. Others were sitting outside the train holding ice packs to their heads.
Reports from the scene said some people were bleeding from cuts.
Transportation authorities say the operator controlled the brakes, although the cause has yet to be determined, there were no automated safety measures to stop the train.
It's the latest high-profile public transit incident to raise concern. In 2015, an Amtrak commuter train derailed outside Philadelphia.
An investigation found the conductor lost awareness of where he was and was traveling at more than twice the speed limit. It killed eight people, including three with Maryland ties.
In 2009, Washington D.C.'s metro system had the deadliest crash in its history when a faulty circuit lead an automated system to fail.
A red line train barreled into another and the cars crumbled when they collided at more than 40 miles an hour, killing nine people.
"The problem here is clearly speed and it keeps happening over and over again," said Daniel Miller, a Baltimore attorney whose firm specializes in transportation issues.
He says transit operators should invest in new technology that will safeguard against crashes like these.
"We have to get to a point where these trains are not capable of putting passengers in a dangerous position," said Miller.
Many riders depend on these transit systems and hope for the best.
It can happen with anything, you just pray for the situation and people effected. You know you just go on," said Linda Alexander, a Baltimore train rider.
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