LIRR Train Crash in Brooklyn Injures More Than 100
January 4, 2017
At least 100 people were injured during the Wednesday morning rush hour when a Long Island Rail Road train derailed in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Via New York Times:
FDNY members at the scene of today’s LIRR train derailment at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn utilized MERVs (Major Emergency Response Vehicles) and METUs (Medical Evacuation Transportation Units) to treat and transport patients to area hospitals. FDNY/Facebook
Every workday for the past eight years, Audrey Foster has taken the same Long Island Rail Road train from her home on Long Island to Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, a busy hub serving suburban and New York City commuters.
But Ms. Foster, 52, noticed something unnerving as she rolled into the station at about 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
“The train just didn’t stop,” she said.
Instead, it rammed into a bumping block, with the front striking a room beyond the track and the first two cars derailing, injuring more than 100 people, according to officials. Still, they said, the accident could have been far worse.
“We were fortunate,” Daniel Donaghue, a deputy assistant fire chief, told reporters. A broken leg sustained by one woman appeared to be the most severe injury caused by the crash, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.
FDNY members at the scene of today’s LIRR train derailment at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn to triage, treat, and transport injured passengers. FDNY/Facebook
Damage caused by the LIRR train when it rammed into a bumping block, with the front engine striking a room beyond. FDNY/Facebook
The derailment, which disrupted the morning commute for thousands of riders, was reminiscent of a deadly crash in September in which a New Jersey Transit train plowed through a bumper at the end of a track at Hoboken Terminal, killing a woman and injuring more than 100 people.
Passengers involved in the Brooklyn episode and those in the station at the time described the terrifying moment of impact and the disorienting scene that followed.
“All of a sudden it was just like ‘boom!’” said Wendy Gerzog, 57, who was traveling to work in Lower Manhattan from Lawrence, N.Y.
Steben Medina, 47, was having coffee at Atlantic Terminal when he heard the crash and then a series of screams.
“The entire structure started shaking,” he said. “I thought a bomb had gone off or something.”
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