NEW YORK: The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, said yesterday that a subway train that derailed in a devastating accident that killed four passengers and wounded 67 others was probably travelling too fast.
There are three possibilities behind Sunday’s crash, which struck during America’s post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, Cuomo said: “Problem with the track, equipment problem or operator error.”
“Working with the experts over the past day, I think it is going to be speed-related,” he told NBC, adding that the sharp curve where the train veered off the tracks was not enough to explain the accident. “This was a tricky turn on the system, but it’s a turn that’s been here for decades and trains negotiate all day long,” he said.
“I think it’s going to turn out to be about the speed more than anything, and the operator’s operation of the train at that time.”
After retrieving the train’s two “black boxes” — one from the front and one from the rear — investigators from the National Transportation Safety Bureau were continuing their probe at the scene, in the Bronx borough north of Manhattan.
The train, carrying between 100 and 150 people, crashed at around 7:20am (1220 GMT) on Sunday as it headed south to Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The train’s seven cars derailed just before it reached Spuyten Duyvil station.
The Metropolitan Transp-ortation Authority identified the four victims, who ranged in age from 35 to 59. Two were men, two were women, and all were New York-area residents. Three of the victims had been thrown from the train. The New York Fire Department said 11 other people were seriously hurt, and another 56 suffered minor injuries.
AFP
