NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Long Island Rail Road train derailed outside a station in New York City’s Queens borough on Thursday morning, leaving at least seven people with minor injuries, according to the New York City Fire Department.
Firefighters responded to the scene just east of Jamaica station to help rescue the passengers, none of whose injuries were life-threatening, the fire department said in a post on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.
The cause of the derailment was not immediately clear.
Thursday’s accident came just eight days after a construction crane caught fire and crashed into a Manhattan street during the morning rush hour, injuring six and snarling traffic through the nearby Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey.
Aerial footage from CBS News New York on Thursday showed the derailed train, still upright but off its track, as firefighters escorted passengers to a rescue train via a small platform.
The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) said in a post on X that trains were still running, but were bypassing Hillside, Hollis and Queens Village. The city’s transit authority was allowing LIRR passengers to use their tickets on bus routes between those stations instead.
New York state Governor Kathy Hochul said in a post on X that she had been briefed on the derailment and that state personnel had been dispatched to assist with the emergency response.
Hochul said her office was “closely monitoring” the situation to ensure the safety of all passengers and rail workers.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Leslie Adler)
