Tears For Young Mother
Killed In Hoboken Train Crash As Probe Continues
Family and friends mourned a young mother
killed in a Hoboken train crash that injured 108 on Thursday. A probe into the
tragedy is ongoing.
By Tom
Davis (Patch Staff) - September 30, 2016 1:20 pm ET
Family
and friends are mourning a young mother who was killed in a Hoboken train crash
that injured 108 people Thursday as a probe into the tragedy continues.
Tears
were shed for Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, 34, of Hoboken as the National
Transportation Safety Board announced that the event recorder — the train's
so-called "black box" — was recovered after the high-speed crash.
"We'll
be getting [into] that as soon as we can access that," NTSB Vice Chairman
T. Bella Dinh-Zarr told reporters at a press conference late Thursday, noting
that the event recorder should provide details on why the crash happened.
de Kroon,
who worked as a corporate lawyer for the SAP software company, was killed after
being hit by debris on the Hoboken platform while the crash's impact caused the
terminal's roof to collapse, sending flying metal airborne, officials said.
Photos
from the scene show the mangled train car that crashed into the platform of
Track 5. Beams and wires appear to be knocked down, and a portion of the roof
looked like it collapsed, photos from the terminal show. Passengers described
people screaming and bloodied as they exited the train.
NJ
Transit has established a Family Reunification Center at 20 Caven Point Ave.,
Jersey City. The Crisis Hotline number is 855-336-1774.
The
latest developments in the tragic crash include:
- The
NTSB said the engineer, Thomas Gallagher, 48, of Morris Plains, who was
injured, hospitalized and released Thursday, is cooperating with
authorities in the investigation. He is expected to be interviewed on
Friday.
- PATH
service resumed in Hoboken even though the century-old terminal will
remain shut down for the foreseeable future, Port Authority officials
said.
- Gov.
Chris Christie, who said the train "came in at a higher rate of speed
than it should have," said the Office of the Attorney General also is
investigating the crash.
- Christie
said the crash appeared to be a "tragic accident" that was not intentional
or terror-related.
·
At least one person was killed and more than 100 people were
injured in a New Jersey Transit train crash at the Hoboken terminal Thursday
morning.
·
The victim has been identified by authorities as Fabiola Bittar de
Kroon, 34, of Hoboken. Gov. Chris Christie said de Kroon was hit by debris on
the platform when the train crashed.
·
·
Christie and New Jersey lawmakers confirmed that in addition to
the fatality, 108 people were injured in the 8:45 a.m. crash. The Federal Rail
Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were on scene
Thursday to investigate.
·
Photos from the scene show the mangled train car that crashed into
the platform of Track 5. Beams and wires appear to be knocked down, and a
portion of the roof looks like it collapsed, photos from the terminal show.
Passengers described people screaming and bloodied as they exited the train.
·
NJ Transit has established a Family Reunification Center at 20
Caven Point Ave., Jersey City. The Crisis Hotline number is 855-336-1774.
·
The engineer has been identified in multiple media reports as
48-year-old Thomas Gallagher. ABC News reports he is
cooperating with authorities.
·
Christie, during a press conference Thursday afternoon, called the
accident an "extraordinary tragedy," but he declined to speculate on
a cause and couldn't say when the station would reopen. "We pray for the
victims and their family," he said.
·
Christie said his administration is "hoping it's the only
casualty today, and we're obviously praying for the victims and families."
·
Christie said the train "came in at a higher rate of speed
than it should have," and he's not sure why. He said the Office of the
Attorney General is investigating the crash, noting that the train engineer —
who was in critical condition Thursday afternoon — "is fully
cooperating."
·
"We have nothing to believe other than this was a tragic
accident," he said.
·
Christie said the White House also pledged assistance, and his
administration said that PATH service at the station - which was shut down
after the accident - should be restored by Thursday afternoon.
·
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the NTSB would search for a cause,
and "if there's something to learn from those facts from the
investigation, we'll be sure to incorporate those facts."
·
Cuomo, noting last week's bombing incidents in New York and New
Jersey involving a suspected terrorist, said "there is nothing we can't
accomplish. There is nothing we can't overcome."
·
Christie praised passengers and people at the station who raced
into each of the train's cars to help those who were injured.
·
"This region has developed a resilience that has been admired
by the rest of the world," Christie said.
·
Christie said he has dispatched engineers to evaluate the Hoboken
station for structural integrity, noting the train did some "real damage
to that building." The state, he said, needs "to make sure that
building is safe for people to occupy."
·
·
NJ Transit said the Pascack Valley Line train crashed through a
gate, and then hopped up on a platform during the morning commute at the
Hoboken station, which serves as a major transportation hub for tens of
thousands of New Jersey mass transit riders.
·
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·
NJ Transit confirmed "multiple critical injuries" at the
scene where the No. 1614 train struck the terminal building.
·
Passengers said the train seemed to be moving faster than usual as
it entered the station. Jamie Weatherhead-Sal, a passenger in the first car of
the train, told NBC 4 New Yorkthat the train "just felt
like it never stopped. It didn't slow down. It didn't brake."
·
"You felt like this huge, huge bang," passenger Steve
Mesiano told the station. "The lights went off, and then you started to
see like — I was in the window seat, so I could see like outside, what was
happening, and the roof just collapsed on the first car."
·
Witness Nancy Solomon told MSNBC that she was was on her way to
the PATH when the train crashed just as she walked onto the steps leading to
the track.
·
"The scene was one of shock. It was quiet. People were
bloody, they were lacerated, they were bruised," said Solomon, who came
upon the crash before first responders arrived.
·
"At first it was surreal," she said. "The place
where the train crashed is really the worst possible spot for the crash to
happen. At this hour of the morning at quarter to 9, you're shoulder to
shoulder with commuters."
·
City officials praised the first responders. Hoboken City
Councilman Mike DeFusco said the first responders have been
"terrific." He noted there was significant damage to the train and
platform.
·
Residents recalled their shock upon learning of the crash.
·
Louis Melendez said he was preparing take a train later in the
morning to see his sister when he heard loud sirens. He turned on the
television and learned of the crash. "I've lived here my whole life, and
I've never seen anything like this. Thank God I never made it to the
train," he said.
·
He said the community needs to "stick together" to get
through the aftermath. If Hoboken can come together over this "it would be
beautiful."
·
The Pascack Valley train left the Spring Valley station at 7:32
a.m. and was due to arrive in Hoboken at 8:30 a.m. A Jersey City Medical Center
spokesman said at a press conference that at least 51 people were being treated
at that hospital.
·
All PATH service at the Hoboken station was initially suspended,
and ferry service to New York City from a nearby terminal was shut down as
well. Hudson Bergen Light Rail service also was suspended into and out of
Hoboken terminal. The NY Waterway ferry is accepting rail tickets and passes.
·
NTSB spokeswoman T. Bella Dinh-Zarr said the agency will look at
whether positive train control — a mechanism that slows down trains but NJ
Transit trains are not required to have — could have prevented the crash.
"We know that it can prevent accidents," she said during a press
conference.
·
Christie and Cuomo also declined to say whether "PTC"
could have helped prevent the crash, saying they wanted to wait for the
investigation to begin.
·
Others also reported from the scene:
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