NJ Gov. Says 1 Dead, More than 100 Injured in Train Crash

NJ Gov. Says 1 Dead, More than 100 Injured in Train Crash
Emergency personnel arrive at the scene of a train crash in Hoboken, N.J. on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Joe Epstein)
The Associated Press
9/29/2016
Updated:
9/29/2016

HOBOKEN, N.J. —The Latest on the commuter train that crashed into a station in New Jersey (all times local):

11:55 a.m.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says no one is believed to be trapped on the commuter train that crashed in Hoboken.

Christie spoke Thursday to Fox News, more than two hours after the New Jersey Transit train overran the end of the line and crashed into the Hoboken station. He confirms that there has been one fatality. More than 100 others were injured.

The governor says he, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit are coordinating on the response.

Christie says all victims are being taken to one of two hospitals in the area: Jersey City Medical Center and Point Care Hospital Center in Hoboken. He says loved ones should contact the hospitals directly to get information on family members who may be hospitalized.

 

___

11:40 a.m.

The New Jersey Transit train that crashed in Hoboken, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others, was not equipped with a technology that is designed to slow speeding trains.

The scene of a train crash in Hoboken, N.J., on Sept. 29, 2016. ( Ian Samuel via AP)
The scene of a train crash in Hoboken, N.J., on Sept. 29, 2016. ( Ian Samuel via AP)

U.S. railroads are under government orders to install the system called positive train control, but the work has gone more slowly than expected. The deadline has been repeatedly extended and is now Dec. 31, 2018.

Bob Chipkevich, who formerly headed the National Transportation Safety Board’s train crash investigations section, says the agency will be looking at whether the train was exceeding speed limits, both when it was approaching the station and when it entered the station area.

Last month, the Federal Railroad Administration said New Jersey Transit had a lot of work yet to do on installing the necessary equipment. New Jersey Transit responded that the report didn’t reflect the work it had accomplished.

___

11 a.m.

A state lawmaker says one person was killed and two critically injured when a commuter train plowed into the Hoboken station.

Democratic Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, who represents Hoboken, said a transit official confirmed the death to him. A New Jersey Transit spokeswoman, Jennifer Nelson, earlier said that more than 100 people were injured in the crash.

Emergency personnel arrive at the scene of a train crash in Hoboken, N.J. on Sept. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Joe Epstein)
Emergency personnel arrive at the scene of a train crash in Hoboken, N.J. on Sept. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Joe Epstein)

The train from New York crashed during the Thursday morning rush hour. It caused serious damage to both the train and station. Witnesses reported injuries, including one woman who was trapped under concrete and many people bleeding.

The National Transportation Safety Board is opening an investigation into the crash, and is sending a team of investigators to the scene.

___

10:20 a.m.

A New Jersey Transit spokeswoman says that more than 100 people were injured, some critically, when a commuter train plowed into the Hoboken station.

The train from New York crashed during the Thursday morning rush hour. It caused serious damage to both the train and station. Witnesses reported injuries, including one woman who was trapped under concrete and many people bleeding.

The spokeswoman, Jennifer Nelson, says she doesn’t know yet how fast the train was going when it ran into the rail bumper at the end of the line.

___

Passengers rush to safety after a NJ Transit train crashed in to the platform at the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey on Sept. 29. (Pancho Bernasconi/Getty Images)
Passengers rush to safety after a NJ Transit train crashed in to the platform at the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey on Sept. 29. (Pancho Bernasconi/Getty Images)

10 a.m.

A New Jersey Transit spokeswoman says that a commuter train that crashed into a train station in Hoboken was coming from Spring Valley, New York, on the Pascack Valley Line.

Nancy Snyder says there were multiple injuries, but it’s not clear how many, after Train No. 1614 crashed into the Hoboken train station around 8:45 a.m. She says the train left Spring Valley at 7:23 a.m. Thursday.

TV footage and photos from the scene Thursday morning show damage to the rail car and extensive structural damage to the Hoboken station.

A spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration says that investigators have been dispatched to the scene.

Passengers heading to New York City transfer from New Jersey Transit trains at Hoboken to board other trains and ferries to get into Manhattan.

___

9:55 a.m.

A passenger says the commuter train that crashed in New Jersey was crowded and plowed through the platform at the end of the line.

Bhagyesh Shah told NBC New York he saw a lot of people bleeding and a woman pinned under concrete Thursday morning at New Jersey Transit’s Hoboken station.

Shah says he was in the back of the train but that many people use the front cars, since it makes for an easier exit. He says the train plowed into the platform. He says it lasted only a couple seconds, “but it felt like an eternity.”

He tells the TV station that passengers in the second car broke the emergency windows to get out.

Images from the scene show damage to the rail car and extensive structural damage, but there’s no official word on the number of injuries.

___

9:30 a.m.

A commuter train has crashed into a rail station in New Jersey during the morning rush hour, causing serious damage.

TV footage and photos from the scene Thursday morning show damage to the rail car and extensive structural damage to the Hoboken station.

Radio station WFAN anchor John Minko told New York radio station WINS that the train “went right through the barriers and into the reception area.”

Rail service was suspended in and out of Hoboken, which is 7 miles outside New York City.

There is no word so far on any injuries.

Emergency crews are arriving on the scene.