The train crash that claimed the life of one and injured at least a 100 people on Thursday is now under investigation, in an effort to determine the cause of the accident.
Investigators have retrieved an event recorder from the New Jersey Transit train that hurtled past its stopping point Thursday at the Hoboken station and rammed through a passenger concourse, according to a US official with direct knowledge of the probe.
Jam packed with passengers as is befitting for rush hour, the train slammed into a bumper block, went airborne, and hit the concourse at about 8:45 a.m., killing a woman waiting on the platform.
The NTSB will send the recorder — one of two that was on the train — to its manufacturer in Kentucky so that the data can be downloaded, the official said.
The engineer of the train, identified by NJ Transit as Thomas Gallagher, 48, was treated for minor injuries after the crash and released. He is complying with authorities and was tested negative for drugs or alcohol at the hospital.
As part of an investigation that is likely to last months, the safety board will review several possible factors, including the engineer’s actions, the train’s maintenance and the railroad’s tracks and signals.
The woman killed on the platform by fallen debris has been identified as Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, a 34-year-old mother from Hoboken who has recently moved to the United States from Brazil with her family.
Two other people suffered life-threatening injuries, and dozens of others are being treated for minor injuries at area hospitals, officials said.
The Hoboken Terminal was evacuated and all service there was suspended, including both NJ Transit and PATH train service. Transit officials said the station will remain closed today, impacting roughly 100,000 people who use NJ Transit to commute from New Jersey to New York City each day.
