WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — All six of the people killed in a fiery collision between a commuter train and an SUV in the New York City suburbs suffered blunt-force injuries and burns, a medical examiner announced Tuesday.
A brief statement released by Westchester County did not specify the cause of death for any of the victims. It also did not specify whether the blunt-force injuries were caused by the impact on the tracks or by the pieces of third rail that speared into both vehicles in the Feb. 3 accident.
The collision killed five men on a Metro-North evening commuter train and a woman whose SUV was hit by the train at a grade crossing in Valhalla. A fire erupted, apparently fueled by the SUV’s gasoline, and 12 sections of the railroad’s electrified rail pierced the SUV and the train car.
The findings were based on autopsies conducted by the office of the county medical examiner, Dr. Kunjlata Ashar, the county said. The statement said Ashar’s final report and conclusions will not be completed until the National Transportation Safety Board finishes its investigation several months from now.