- Title: Christie: Train engineer 'fully cooperating' with crash investigation
- Date: 29th September 2016
- Summary: HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 29, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OVERHEAD VIEWS OF EMERGENCY PERSONNEL AND VEHICLES OUTSIDE OF HOBOKEN TERMINAL
- Embargoed: 14th October 2016 20:34
- Keywords: Hoboken train crash New Jersey train crash Christie Cuomo derailment injured
- Location: HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES
- City: HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Ground Accidents/Collisions,Disaster/Accidents
- Reuters ID: LVA00151MF03R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A commuter train plowed into a station in New Jersey at the height of Thursday's (September 29) morning rush hour, killing at least one person and injuring more than 100 others as it brought down part of the roof and scattered debris over the concourse.
Witnesses described terrifying scenes as the front of the train smashed through the track stop in Hoboken station at high speed and into the terminal, toppling support columns and creating chaos at one of the busiest transit hubs in the New York City area.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told reporters at a news conference in Hoboken that one person was killed on the platform by debris from the crash, and he said 108 people were injured. There were no signs it was anything other than an accident, he added.
The train's engineer, or driver, was seriously injured and in a hospital, and was cooperating with law enforcement officials in the investigation, Christie said.
New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo told the news conference it was obvious the train had come into the station "at too high a rate of speed," but that it was unclear why.
A couple of hundred emergency workers shuttled in and out of the station, some carrying the injured on stretchers to waiting ambulances outside.
Christie praised the actions of commuters who helped first responders.
"Regular commuters left the safety of where they were standing to rush to the train to help first responders evacuate injured people off the train. This region has developed a resilience that is admired by the rest of the world because of the way we've been tested. And so we have challenges, as the governor said, and we both believe that. But we have a system in place between the two of us and our administrations and an incredibly resilient people that allow us to be able to confront these things," he said.
Accounts from officials at two hospitals said some of the injured were in critical condition. Several passengers were initially trapped in the wreckage, witnesses and officials said, but they were later freed.
There was no word yet on what caused the crash. Federal investigators were on the scene.
Hoboken, the last stop on the line it serves, lies on the Hudson's west bank across from New York City. Its station is used by many commuters traveling into Manhattan from New Jersey and further afield. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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