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Train Derailment In New York City Leaves Four Dead, Dozens Injured [Photos]

By Patricia Didelot
Published on: 05:56 PST, Dec 1, 2013

A train derailment in New York City on Sunday morning, as many returned home from the Thanksgiving holiday, leaves four people dead and dozens more injured.

A Metro North train en route to New York City derailed along the Hudson River, killing four commuters and injuring 63 others, according to authorities.

The train had left Poughkeepsie, New York, and was headed to New York City’s Grand Central Station, when it derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station in the borough of the Bronx.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said it is unclear how many passengers were in the train when it derailed, but confirmed one of those injured was the conductor.

“It’s obviously a very tragic situation,” Cuomo said, according to Yahoo! News. “The first order of business is to care for the people on the train.”

According to Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the train derailment occurred at approximately 7:20 am.

Even though there are casualties in the accident, authorities say if this had occurred during a week day, when trains are pack with workers coming to work in the city, it could have been a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

The location of the train derailment is very close to the Hudson River, but authorities don’t believe any of the passengers went in the water.

However, three of the four dead were found outside the train cars, according to the New York Fire Department and scuba divers were called to comb the nearby river as a precaution.

“I was asleep and I woke up when the car started rolling several times,” passenger Joel Zaritsky told the AP. “Then I saw the gravel coming at me, and I heard people screaming. There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train.”

Some photos posted to Twitter show the extent of the train derailment and how close it actually was to the water.

National Transportation Safety Board officials have been dispatched to the scene to investigate the New York City train derailment, according to Governor Cuomo and will look into whether speed was a factor in the accident.

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