Justin Kaback hardly felt a thing, when the commuter train he rode north of New York City smashed into the Jeep Cherokee that was crossing the track late Thursday.
He didn’t even know there had been an accident nor that the crash would kill the driver — a woman whose SUV, a transit official said, appeared to have gotten stuck on the track.
Kaback also received no warning about the fire about to ignite in the first car of the train, where six more people lost their lives and a dozen more were injured.
The Jeep’s driver may have gotten out to see what was holding it back, a rail official said. She got back in the SUV and may have been trying to drive off the tracks when the Metro-North Railroad train hit her at Valhalla, the official said.
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Photos of the scene and areal video from CNN affiliate WCBS showed flames and smoke pouring out windows of the commuter train.
It was the only one that caught fire, Astorino said. “Everything is melted inside.” There was not much damage from the second car back.
The train was full when the accident happened, Astorino said. “There were about 650 (people) total on the ride home.”
