"Numerous" fatalities were reported after a crowded Metro-North commuter train hit a vehicle on the tracks north of White Plains, New York, Tuesday night, sparking a fire that gutted the lead car of the train, according to the MTA.
Among the dead were an unknown number of passengers on the train and the driver of the black Jeep Cherokee that was struck. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the gates came down on top of the SUV at the crossing, which was stopped on the tracks. The driver got out to look at the rear of the car, then she got back in and drove forward and was struck.
The MTA had earlier said that six people were dead in the crash, but changed that to "numerous" deaths pending more information.
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.
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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.
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 Hawthorne.
Harlem Line Service was temporarily suspended between North White Plains and Pleasantville, the railroad tweeted.
More than 750 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."
The National Transportation Safety Board 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.
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