New York — Emergency responders were at the scene of a subway derailment in Brooklyn Wednesday afternoon.
The transit authority said the accident occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. on the F train line at the West 8th Street station in Coney Island.
The agency said that all 37 passengers on the train got out safely.
“It was a bang and a jolt, like someone was pushing and shoving you, but we were sitting. Thank God we weren't standing or it wasn't crowded,” passenger Elissa Giles said.
Giles was inside the F train, stuck on the elevated track between the West 8th Street and Neptune stations, for about an hour.
“We had to walk across a plank to get to the rescue train, which is why we ended up here,” Giles said.
Below, on the ground, construction workers and people who work and live in the area watched in amazement.
A witness named Freddy said: “The train was coming. All you heard was an explosion, and when you looked at that train it hit it, he jumped. Everyone was screaming.”
Officials said 34 passengers and three crew members were on board the train.
“Two rescue vehicles arrived at the train on both sides and evacuated people from the north end,” New York Defense Forces Chief Mike Mandela said.
Transportation officials said there may have been a problem with the track.
“We have an engineering car ready. We run something like a train device. It goes through our system once a year to make sure everything is even. It got here in November. As far as we know, there are no problems,” he said. Richard Davey, president of NYC Transit.
This is the second derailment in the city in less than a week. last Thursday, There was a subway derailment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, involving one train carrying 300 passengers. About 25 were slightly injured.
The NTSB is still investigating.
“From the collision last week and the derailment today, they don't appear to be connected at all,” Davey said.
However, passengers are still concerned.
“I thought it would be worse. Thank God, lucky,” Freddie said.
The cause of the train derailment on Wednesday is still under investigation. Robert Baswell, a civil engineer at City College, told CBS New York's Dana Tyler that there are several possible reasons for a derailment on an elevated track.
“There's something in the tracks. The tracks might be dislodged, or the track might be broken. It could be weather or it's dislodged. It could be a bad wheel on the car, the wheel might have come off,” Baswell said. “It may have been because the train operator suddenly stopped or started suddenly that caused some of the cars to collide with each other.”
As for train service, the MTA said F service is suspended from Coney Island to Kings Expressway in both directions. Shuttle bus service will be provided to passengers.
The hope is to have everything ready to go tomorrow in time for the Thursday morning rush.
Click here for the latest service status and changes from the MTA.
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