Train was going 'too fast' before New Jersey rail station crash that kills one and injures over 100
The Governor of New Jersey has confirmed that a woman was killed in today's fatal rail accident at Hoboken Station.
She was struck by debris while standing on the platform of the busy station which many commuters use to travel across the Hudson River to Manhattan.
108 people have been injured in what is being described by city officials as a 'tragic accident'.
Governor Chris Christie says the train driver is in critical condition but is co-operating with investigators.
Jennifer Nelson, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit, said she did not know how fast the train was going when it crashed through the bumper.
Ross Bauer, an IT specialist who was heading to his Manhattan job from his home in Hackensack, was sitting in the third or fourth car when the train was pulling into the historic 109-year-old station for its final stop.
"All of a sudden, there was an abrupt stop and a big jolt that threw people out of their seats. The lights went out, and we heard a loud crashing noise - like an explosion - that turned out to be the roof of the terminal," he said.
"I heard panicked screams, and everyone was stunned."
William Blaine, an engineer for a company that runs freight trains, was inside the station when the train crashed and ran over to help.
He walked over to the heavily damaged first car with a transit employee to check on the train's engineer and said he found him slumped over the controls. The engineer's condition was not immediately clear.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that no one is believed to be trapped on the commuter train.
Gov. Christie spoke 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.
WATCH: Officials help passengers off crashed train as first responders arrive on scene in Hoboken, New Jersey https://t.co/PyKv18j8vJ pic.twitter.com/cL9klzfYTg
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 29, 2016
The governor said he, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit are coordinating on the response.
Gov. Christie said all victims are being taken to one of two hospitals in the area: Jersey City Medical Centre and Point Care Hospital Centre in Hoboken.
#cosmetics #beauty Gov. Christie: Can't speculate on cause of NJ train crash: New Jersey governor phones in https://t.co/BDYtnIj9ZT
— com (@RssCosmetics) September 29, 2016
He said loved ones should contact the hospitals directly to get information on family members who may be hospitalised.
David Potter, a 29-year-old business loan officer from Manhattan, was in the station when the train came off the rails and hit the wall.
He claimed it was going "way too fast" before it "jumped the track", adding: "The ceiling looked like it was caved in with wires hanging, and people were running.
"An officer led us to the street where they began closing everything off. Ambulances [and] police officers were covering the scene and people were laying down outside hurt."
Mr Potter, who regularly uses the station during his commute to work, added he saw an "older gentleman" who was "bloody on his face" being sat down by an officer and ambulance personnel.
The train had left Spring Valley, New York, at 7:23am local time and crashed into Hoboken Terminal at 8:45am, said NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder.
This is the scene after an NJ Transit train crashed at Hoboken station in New Jersey.
— AJ+ (@ajplus) September 29, 2016
More than 100 people have reportedly been injured. pic.twitter.com/8FBkzeUdl9
"The next thing I know, we are ploughing through the platform," passenger Bhagyesh Shah told NBC New York. "It was for a couple seconds, but it felt like an eternity."
He said the train was crowded, particularly the first two cars, because they make for an easy exit into the Hoboken station and onto the Path train.
Passengers in the second car broke the emergency windows to get out.
"I saw a woman pinned under concrete," Mr Shah told NBC New York. "A lot of people were bleeding; one guy was crying."
A train has crashed into a rail station in Hoboken, New Jersey, causing mass casualties.
Emergency crews are on the scene.
Photos from the scene show a damaged New Jersey Transit rail car inside the station, followed by debris.
It has been reported there have been a number of serious injuries due to the incident.
A passenger said the train was crowded and ploughed through the platform at the end of the line.
Hope everyone involved or around #Hoboken #TrainCrash is ok! 😞🚝 pic.twitter.com/esXXME2u4d
— Katie (@katierhulme) September 29, 2016
Bhagyesh Shah told NBC New York he saw a lot of people bleeding and a woman pinned under concrete.
Mr Shah said he was in the back of the train, but that many people use the front cars, since it makes for an easier exit.
He said the incident lasted only for a couple seconds, "but it felt like an eternity".
He told the TV station that passengers in the second car broke the emergency windows to get out.
#BREAKING Multiple injuries reported after train crash in #Hoboken roof also appears to have collapsed @Telemundo47 pic.twitter.com/4wWdp6aZmy
— Cristian Benavides (@cbenavidesTV) September 29, 2016
Hoboken is the final stop for several train lines, and the images show a train that appears to have gone through the bumper stop at the end of a track.
The train came to a halt in a covered area between the station's indoor waiting area and the platform.
A metal structure covering the area collapsed.
