Seven Killed As NY Train Hits Car On Crossing

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Seven people were killed and at least 12 injured after a packed commuter train slammed into a car at a crossing north of New York City.

A Metro-North Railroad spokesman said the northbound train struck a Jeep Cherokee on the tracks at a railway crossing in Valhalla.

The SUV and the front carriage of the train caught fire.

The railroad crossing gates had come down on top of the SUV, which was stopped on the tracks, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

The driver got out to look at the rear of the vehicle, then she got back in and drove forward, but was struck and killed.

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Seven people are killed and a dozen injured after a train hit a car on a railway crossing near New York City. Click through for more images

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Six passengers were killed as flames ripped through the carriage. The crash is the deadliest in Metro-North Railroad's history.

"This is a truly ugly and brutal sight," Governor Andrew Cuomo said at the scene of the crash 20 miles (32km) north of New York City.

More than 750 passengers are thought to have been aboard the train.

"I was trapped," commuter Justin Kaback told ABC News.

"You know there was people in front of me and behind me, and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was getting very hot.

"All the air was turned off so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary especially when people are walking by on the outside and they said, 'The train's on fire. There's a fire.'"

Another passenger told reporters he was sitting near the back of the train when he felt a "small jolt".

Neil Rader said: "It felt not even like a short stop, and then the train just completely stopped."

He said frantic passengers had to evacuate by breaking glass on the doors to get out, and that he saw 50 to 60 ambulances at the scene.

"I've never seen anything quite like it," he added.

Around 400 of the passengers who evacuated the train were taken to a local rock climbing gym for shelter. Buses were sent to the centre to pick them up and take them to their destinations.

Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the Long Island Rail Road.

It was formed in 1983 and serves around 280,000 passengers a day in New York and Connecticut. Service on a portion of its Harlem Line was suspended after the crash.

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Malu Rasanya