Multiple Metro-North Passenger Trains Derail in NYC, at Least 2 Dead

Metro-North train derails: As many as eight passenger trains have reportedly derailed Sunday morning in New York City.
Multiple Metro-North Passenger Trains Derail in NYC, at Least 2 Dead
Cars from a Metro-North passenger train are scattered after the train derailed in the Bronx, New York, on Dec. 1, 2013. Four people were killed and 63 injured. (AP Photo/Edwin Valero)
Tara MacIsaac
12/1/2013
Updated:
12/1/2013

NEW YORK —The Fire Department of New York says there have been two fatalities in a Metro-North passenger train derailment Sunday. Dozens were injured.

The FDNY says the train derailment in the Bronx was reported at 7:20 a.m. Sunday near the Spuyten Duyvil station. Photos posted on Twitter show at least one car nearly in the river and two cars flipped on their sides. ABC 7 reports four commuter trains derailed.

The Fire Department said that 50 units and 135 firefighters are on the scene.

The train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station, a stretch of track with a sharp curve. 

A passenger on one of the trains, Frank Detouli, told ABC 7 the train was going much faster than usual. He takes the train every Sunday. One of the trains was heading from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Station. 

Edwin Valero was in an apartment building above the accident scene when the train derailed. He says he didn’t realize the train had turned on its side until he saw a firefighter walking on the window.

ABC spoke with a local resident, who said, “I heard a screeching noise, and then within seconds, the ambulances and fire trucks started coming by my window.” He estimated some 50 or more emergency vehicles were on scene shortly after the derailment. He saw people coming out in stretchers, but did not observe serious injuries. 

“I hope everybody is alright,” he said. “It is a sharp curve. They know it’s a curve.”

A train carrying garbage recently derailed near Spuyten Duyvil, reports ABC.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.