At least seven people were killed when a crowded Metro-North commuter train hit a vehicle on the tracks north of White Plains, New York, Tuesday, sparking a fire that gutted the lead car of the train, officials said.
Among the dead were at least six passengers on the rush-hour train and the driver of a black Jeep Cherokee that was struck and pushed about 400 feet, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other officials said in a late-night news conference. Cuomo said the electrified third rail of the track buckled and pierced the front train car.
Cuomo called the accident a "truly ugly and brutal sight."
"You have seven people who started out today going about their business who won't be making it home tonight. It's a reminder of how precious life is," Cuomo said.
The National Transportation Safety Board launched a go-team to investigate the accident, which is the deadliest tragedy in the history of the railroad.
Justin Kaback
PHOTO: A Metro North train struck a car, sparking a fire, north of White Plains, N.Y., Feb. 3, 2015.
Angelo Ortiz, one of the first paramedics on the scene, had trouble putting the accident into context hours later.
"What I first saw was the glow of the fire down the road. And as I approached I was in disbelief when I saw the fire was coming from the car that was completely engulfed. When I knew it was the train that was on fire as well, that's when I realized that this is probably the worst tragedy I've ever responded to," Ortiz said.
"It was incredibly, just very tragic, that's all I can say. I'm still in disbelief,"
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said he'll never forget what he saw in that front train car.
"It must have been an absolutely horrific scene when that first happened. I am amazed that anyone got off that train," Astorino said at Tuesday's press conference.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the gates came down on top of the SUV at the crossing,. The driver got out to look at the rear of the car, then she got back in and drove forward and was struck.
A driver who said he saw the train hit the SUV, Rick Hope, described the incident in the same way.
"She looked very calm and she was taking what I thought was an awful long time because I'm thinking, 'The clock is ticking here.' The lights are flashing. The gate's down. You don't have much time," Hope told ABC News.
Albert Conte/The Journal News/AP Photo
PHOTO: Passengers are assisted off a Metro-North Railroad passenger train in Valhalla, N.Y., Feb. 3, 2015.
Passengers were evacuated to the back of the Harlem Line train and then were taken to a local rock-climbing gym for shelter, the Cliffs. Buses were dispatched to move the hundreds of passengers to Pleasantville, a spokesperson for the railroad said.
At least 12 passengers were injured and taken to area hospitals. The train had left New York's Grand Central Station at 5:44 p.m. and the collision occurred at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Aerial video of the scene showed the head car of the train in flames and at least one vehicle crushed beneath it. The vehicle was struck at the Commerce St. grade crossing in Valhalla. Following the accident, Harlem Line Service was temporarily suspended between North White Plains and Pleasantville.
About 700 passengers were estimated to be on board, including Justin Kaback, commuting home to Danbury, Connecticut.
"I was trapped. You know there was people in front of me and behind me and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was getting very hot," he told ABC News. "All the air was turned off so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary especially when people are walking by on the outside and they said, the train's on fire, there's a fire."
@anabolicapple/Twitter
PHOTO: Passengers being evacuated from a Metro North train after it struck a car, sparking a fire, north of White Plains, N.Y., Feb. 3, 2015.
The NTSB in November issued a special investigation report on five Metro-North Railroad accidents between May 2013 and March 2014 that killed a total of six people and injured 126. They found "safety management problems" in all the accidents.
"Metro-North and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have much work yet to do," NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart said in a statement at the time. "The FRA has much work to do as well. Railroad safety across the country depends on the FRA turning decisively to the task."
Metro-North safety programs that were in place were not effectively used to manage the safety of its operations and employees, the NTSB said. And, Metro-North did not effectively investigate accidents and incidents to identify and fix safety deficiencies while known deficiencies were not corrected.
A December 2013 derailment in the Bronx killed four people on the railroad, which is the second-busiest commuter line in the country behind the Long Island Railroad.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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