Posted: October 3, 2016
We at Eisbrouch Marsh Law Offices are speechless about the unfolding tragedy in northern New Jersey. The reports are still coming in, but what is known as that a Hoboken commuter train crashed into the station. So far, there has been at least one fatality and somewhere in the vicinity of 100 injured civilians, a number of them seriously hurt. Four civilians are in critical condition.
Eye Witness Accounts of Train Crash
One senior transportation representative who preferred to be anonymous has said, “There are a significant number of injuries. The train was going very fast. There are structural concerns about the facility.”
Even as we write this, witnesses and passenger stories are still coming in. The New York Times reported some of the shocking statement of eye-witnesses and victims aboard the train.
Jason Dahany: “From the fifth car, it felt like a major skid. A creaking noise and a skid. I was lucky to be on the fifth car. I saw bloody noses. I saw people crying.”
Ben Fairclough: “There were wires down, water pouring from the ceiling, the roof had collapsed, and there” [were] “people climbing out of windows of the train.”
Jim Finan: “We never slowed down. We ploughed, I mean, right through the bumper.”
Details still coming in amid investigation
The accident took place just before nine this morning (Thursday, 9/29) when the speeding New Jersey Transit train slammed into a Hoboken terminal during rush hour. Apparently, the train drove through a wall. In its wake, it left significant damage, including twisted metal columns and debris. Social media is already littered with images of the scene.
As of this writing, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, Matthew Lehner, stated the agency was sending investigators to the crash site. A spokesperson for Care Point Health reported several of the victimized had already been taken to Hoboken University Medical Center with more expected to be transported soon. Many of the commuters that were not seriously injured are getting triage in the station cafeteria and being released based on treatment.
The train was on the Pascack Valley line filled with commuters and heading into the station. It inexplicably tried to come to an abrupt halt but apparently its momentum was already beyond anyone’s control. The train continued to race and derailed.
Rail service in and out of Hoboken was immediately suspended.
Everyone at Eisbrouch Marsh Law Offices is hoping for the best for all who happened to be in the station or on that train when it careened into the station.
