Two Metro North trains collide in Bridgeport Connecticut

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Metro-North-Trains-Collide--207941921.html

60 Injured, 5 Critical in Metro-North Train Collision in Connecticut
One Metro-North train derailed and then struck an oncoming train, police said.
By Bob Connors
| Friday, May 17, 2013 | Updated 10:10 PM EDT

Sixty people were injured — five critically and one of those very critically — when a commuter train derailed in Connecticut and was hit by an oncoming train in the midst of the Friday evening rush hour.

An eastbound Metro-North train derailed at 6:10 p.m. and was hit by a westbound train between the Bridgeport and Fairfield stations, officials said, in what Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy called "a very serious incident" at a news conference late Friday.

"We came to a sudden halt. We were jerked. There was smoke," Alex Cohen, a Canadian passenger on the westbound train en route to New York, told NBC Connecticut.

"People were screaming; people were really nervous. We were pretty shaken up. They had to smash a window to get us out," he said.

The sixty people hurt in the crash were transported to St. Vincent's Hospital and Bridgeport Hospital, where most of the injured were seeking treatment for minor injuries.

Malloy warned that the crash had caused extensive track damage, and commuters in Connecticut and throughout the Northeast could face difficult travel in the days ahead.

Eastbound Metro-North service is disrupted at South Norwalk, while westbound service is suspended past Bridgeport. Amtrak has suspended service between New York and Boston indefinitely.

Gov. Malloy said that commuters should expect those Metro-North service disruptions to last at least until Monday, and Fairfield Police Chief Gary McNamara said service could be disrupted well into next week.