Two Metro-North Railroad trains collided during rush hour in Connecticut last night, injuring 60 people, 5 of them critically.
The collission occurred just outside of Fairfield, Conn., when an eastbound train derailed and crashed into a passing westbound train at around 6:10 pm.
“I thought there was a bombing,” Natalie Sepulveda, 23, told the Times. “I smelled smoke and looked outside the window and saw a whole bunch of dust, and I grabbed my son.”
Investigators are dealing with the derailment as a crime scene. One passenger is considered "severely injured," although officials believe that passengers were extremely lucky to have escaped the major collision with just a few injuries.
Another picture from my friend.He wasn't hurt but says he saw others #MetroNorth twitter.com/KarenLeeWFSB/s…
— Karen Lee WFSB (@KarenLeeWFSB) May 17, 2013
Metro-North, the main commuter railway into New York City, shares the right-of-way with Amtrak, which has suspended service between New York and Boston.
“The train leaned to the left and in so doing, clipped the train coming in the opposite direction,” said Marjorie Anders, an authority spokeswoman. Travel problems could continue for weeks as the two tracks that have been damaged are the only two current usable tracks between Bridgeport and New York City.