HOBOKEN, New Jersey--A commuter train plowed into a station in New Jersey at the height of Thursday's morning rush hour, killing a woman on the platform and injuring more than 100 people as it brought down part of the roof and scattered debris over the concourse.
Witnesses described terrifying scenes as the front of the train smashed through the track stop at high speed and into the Hoboken terminal, toppling support columns and creating chaos at one of the busiest transit hubs in the New York City area.
"We have no indication that this is anything other than a tragic accident but ... we're going to let the law enforcement professionals pursue the facts," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said at a news conference in Hoboken alongside New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Train #1614 originated in the town of Spring Valley in New York state and was at the end of its hour-long journey when it crashed. The train's engineer, or driver, was injured and taken to a hospital but later released, officials said, without providing details of his injuries.
Local media identified the engineer as Thomas Gallagher, citing unnamed sources, and said he was cooperating with investigators. U.S. National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr told a separate news conference in Hoboken that investigators would retrieve the event recorder, which tracks speed, braking and other data, from the rear of the train on Thursday night.
She said the train was operating in a "push-pull configuration" in which locomotive-hauled trains can be driven from either end. The train had an engine that was pushing four cars including the controlling, or cab, car in front, officials said.
"Our investigation will continue here on scene for seven to 10 days," Dinh-Zarr said. The train was on track five when it hit the Hoboken terminal building at about 08:45 a.m. EDT.
The New Jersey medical examiner's office identified the victim as Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, 34, of Hoboken. The woman was a former employee in the Brazilian legal department of SAP, the technology company said in a statement. Her LinkedIn page said she was a corporate lawyer who attended Florida International University.
Christie told CNN 114 people were injured. The Chinese Consulate General in New York told Xinhua news service at least one of the injured was a Chinese citizen.
Cuomo said it was obvious the train came into the station too fast, but it was unclear why. The cause could be human error or technical failure, Cuomo said. He added that it was too early to say whether an anti-collision system known as positive train control (PTC) could have prevented the crash. PTC is designed to halt a train if the driver misses a stop signal and advocates cite it for helping to combat human error.
