63 Injured, 4 Dead After Train Derails in New York

Officials are reporting 63 injured and 4 dead after a train derailed yesterday morning in the Bronx. According to initial reports, the engineer of this Metro-North train may not have applied the brakes as he should have on a tight curve. The area of the tracks near Spuyten Duyvil Station on the Hudson line requires trains to slow down from 70mph to 30mph. At the time of the derailment, near 7:20 in the morning, the southbound train had about 150 passengers on board. The train was comprised of seven passenger cars, all of which derailed. Two of the cars flipped completely on their sides. The engineer is among one of those injured in the accident. He could not immediately be reached for comment as he was in the hospital being treated for injuries. According to Metro-North, he had been an engineer with the company for about 20 years and had no history of violations. This is Metro-North’s first fatal accident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has stepped in to conduct an investigation of this accident to determine an official cause. Although many officials believe the accident was caused by the engineer’s failure to properly apply the train’s brakes, another potential cause being looked into is a mechanical defect. Investigators will be looking at the “black box” data which was recovered from the accident site. At most, the NTSB says it should have a definitive answer by mid next week. As an injury law firm experienced in representing train accident victims, we understand how extremely tragic these cases can be. Our thoughts go out to all the victims and their families during this difficult time.