WESTBURY, N.Y. (AP) - The Latest on the deadly crash of two Long Island Rail Road trains and a car that went around lowered crossing gates (all times local):
1:50 p.m.
A witness has told police that the driver who caused a deadly wreck by trying to go around a lowered railroad gate on Long Island in New York was fleeing the scene of an earlier crash.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder and other officials held a news conference Wednesday.
The car was hit by two commuter trains and burst into flames Tuesday night in Westbury. Three people in the vehicle died and eight people on one of the trains suffered injuries, three of them seriously.
Police have not yet confirmed the alleged earlier crash.
The Long Island Rail Road has provided limited service as railroad employees work to remove the damaged train cars and repair the tracks.
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9:45 a.m.
New York’s Long Island Rail Road predicts “heavy delays” all day following the crash of a car and two commuter trains that claimed three lives.
A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said Wednesday that the circumstances of the crash, though tragic, don’t point to any safety issues that require its investigation.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder says the vehicle’s driver was “trying to beat” the crossing gate when it was struck just before 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Westbury.
An eastbound train that had just pulled away from the station hit the car first. It was then struck again by a faster-moving westbound train.
Three people in the car were killed and seven people on the westbound train suffered minor injuries.
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7:30 a.m.
New York’s Long Island Rail Road predicts “heavy delays” all day following the crash of a car and two commuter trains that claimed three lives.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder says the vehicle’s driver was “trying to beat” the crossing gate when it was struck just before 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Westbury.
Ryder says one of the trains, which was carrying about 200 passengers and headed for Manhattan, was going at “full speed” when it crashed.
Three people in the car were killed. Seven people on the westbound train suffered minor injuries.
The LIRR says its crews have been working on two derailed train cars and “significant” track damage. They’ve also been assessing damage to the station platform.
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