I didnt want to misspeak to you. That is govenor como arriving on the scene of this train derail. Ment. Of the only official information we can get in. The Train Derailment happened a few hours ago we have been able to speak to spokesperson. We had a train derail this morning at 7 220 a. M. 100 feet north of the metro north station. This was a passenger train that originated at 5 54 in the morning and was due florida grand centra due intogrand. We dont have any information on the passengers and crew members that may have beeninjured. We do have a little bit of an update. The latest that is coming in from the Fire Department is that the number is 63yearold and ad four fatalities. The information changes by the minute but we had a fairly lengthy conversation and i want you to hear as much as that as possible here is a little more information from aaron don donon the spokesperson from metro north. It was as seven car train. The first five cars derailed. It was in the curve . The tracks where the hudson river meets the harr little hari coach know hoiidont know how e on the train. It was an Early Morning train and it was typically less crowded than normal. Of course today was a holiday. Right now we are going to bring in ourin transportation expert. Dr. Todd curtis, dr. Curtis are you there . I can hear you. While we are speaking the govenor has arrived on the scene as well as Police Commissioner ray kelly. So, dollar dr. Curtis to be cles very, very early on this very lengthy investigation. As you have been listening this morning the early witness accounts the train was going fast. The trains go fast. Do we really know what that means right now . We dont. Because how fast the train should be going in that particular section of the track will depend on several factors. And one of the factors that was mentioned a few minutes ago was the fact that the train was being not pull by a lyco mow l , it was pushed by a locomotive. It te depends on the procedure f the rail company. Tell us what is different if it was pushed by a will h a loce rather than pulled. This has been a train that has been upforquite up for quites they have specific pro see procs for what kind of locomotion should be done for this kind of situation. Given the passenger load and the number of cars. Now what im expecting given this is apparently a fatal, that the nsta maybe involved to the level of having a major investigation. If that is the case they would be looking at that kind of information. Dr. Curtis there are witnesses that are telling our reporters on the scene that there were people that were able to jump out of this train as it was coming off the tracks. Is there anything that you can glean from that . All i can say from that is the witness statementare what they are. They could have literally jumped off the train or they could mistaken Something Else for people jumping off the train or it could be something entirely different. The amount of information is changing from moment to moment. And what i would like to see if its available, any sort of video either taken by passengers inside of the train or from the derailing cameras that may shed light as to what happened and what sequence. How like liberal is i likelye are cameras out there . Im fairly certain given the prevalence of cell phone cameras in everyones pocket there would have been video at least after the video started, that is, surviving passengers or people nearby may have been taking pictures the key thing what may have been done of that would include photos taken of the train before it got to the accident. Early video may show if there was sparks coming out of the wheels or that sort of thing im looking at as much video information as possible is very important for the investigators. Dr. Curtis remind people what we are seeing Police Commissioner ray kelly is on the scene and govenor kuono. Kuomo we know there are black boxes for planes. Are there black boxes for trains . Typically there are. In inner city like this a commuter train im not sure what the rules are for putting those devices in there. That is something that the nta will bring to the table soon. And if there is anything like that and the ntsb becomes involved it becomes a federal investigation its that organization that would analyze the data like that. How important is it what witnesses heard. Well obviously its important what they saw but how important is it what they heard. Its important if they heard something out of the ordinary. Its especially important if they not only heard it but they sole how recorded that information. Recorded some how recorded that information. The witness testimony would be important but if it were recorded its possible that one can do the analysis on the frequency of the sound comparing that to the normal kind of stoned coming oust o come kid coming out of the train. That could be the key to showing that something was wrong with the particular system. Two things to look for here. If there are reliable witnesses that can describe what they heard. And accurately describe what they heard. And more important are there any recording devices that occurred the sound the as they occurred. This morning we have had recounted some horrible things that have happened with rail lines this year. Another incident with metro north. And a couple of other three other incidents we recounted. Could you put in context or perspective how safe rail travel is or not. Rail travel in its various forms from interstate travel like amtrak in the northeast corridor or the lodg longer dise train or committeer trains like this one which is traveling less than a hundred miles from the beginningbeginning of its stope end of its stop. Are relatively safe andly they n they do have accidents its unusual to he 150 see a fatal t like today. There have been several investigations of Train Derailments in the past few years most of them not dealing with passenger trains. Dr. Curtis i need to interrupt you. I need to get back to the scene to get the latest from our report iron the scene morgan radford. You just saw the govenor and it appears the Police Commissioner ray kelly over here leaving the scene. Everyone is here and the scene has calle calmed down and the mf the crew has dispursed right now. Im basically in the wood as you can see here. This is as close as they are letting us get the Police Officer just came over and asked me to leave. We just saw again the govenor and it appears to be Police Commissioner ray kelly. Morgan thank you very much for all of the reporting you have done this morning. Looking ahead we dont flo dono are sure if the govenor and Police Commissioner will be part of the press conference what we are anticipating at any moment is an update. A press Conference Live from the scene. It will certainly be led and parts of it to get the very latest the First Official press conference from the scene. The latest about what happened here at this Train Derailment in the bronx, new york, the hudson line. Live pictures from the science. What i scene. What is happening right now the govenor and the Police Commissioner are taking a look at the scene. There are n ther. There are no rescue efforts going on and there happen to be recovery of iv ef efforts going. There are a there are four fatalities and 63 people injured in the derailment in the seven car train. Some of the cars left the track and coming right up to the edge of the river there. Some of the cars stayed on the track. But that doesnt mean because people were in the car that safe on the tracks were not injured as well. A terrifying scene. The train left this morning a little before 6 00 and anticipatinanticipate avenue ar5 there were family and friends waiting for this train to arrive. This being a Holiday Weekend we dont know how many people were on the train. Perhaps there are more than usual. That should be coming together soon. No doubt they are probably trying to ask some questions we have some updates right now. We are going to move in and listen here. And the presser is coming together now. There as well. Not exactly the way anyone expected. Im going to put everyone on speaker. It left this ne morning at 5 54d its destination was Grand Central at 7 22. It derailed out here. Seven cars being pushed by a a locomotive. All seven cars derailed. There are four fay i fatalities3 injured and they have been transported to hospital close by. If anyone has any questions with respect to a missing person that may have been on the train they should call 311. 311 to identify the location of their lost one in d one in the hospital. Its apparently a tragic situation. There are four fatalities. Please call 311 if you are concerned about someone that was on the train. New york is blessed with the best First Responders in the country. And the fine Fire Department personnel and amtrak personnel an nta personnel were right on site and did an extraordinary job. As we speak in terms of causes, we dont know exactly what happened, the nts is on its way theyll do a thorough investigation and well wait to see what the ntsb says before speculating as any causes. Govenor is anyone cup i unaccounted for and can you talk about the extent of their injuries . Seriously injured and we think everyone is accounted for. The site has been gone over a number of times. What about the operator of the train. The operator is alive and is injured and is being cared for medically now. The passengers that unfortunately died, what car were they in . The two cars that are on the side you can see in the front of the fria train. The two cars turned on the side i know the ntsb is coming to do an investigation what type of things are they looking at. Whenever you do an investigation like this you are looking at track, the equipment and the cars and the locomotive and the signal system and you are going to talk to the people involved in operating the train that is standard investigation and well support that and make sure that we get all of the factual information forward and its too early to speculate any further. We had a location a little fourther soutfurther south of t. Was the track involved this morning. I dont believe it was. Its very important we let the investigation go forward before we make comments. We have i heard reports from people that ride the train often that it seemed to be going faster than it normally would. One of the key things you want to do is interview the crew. How many were were offe on boar. I dont know everyone hundred. Be. The focus right now is on the customers that are injured and making sure that we do everything we can to support the National Transportation safety board in their investigation. Theyll be here later this afternoon once they clear the track and they say its okay to restore. Well begin the efforts to restore service. We are working on plans to provide a bus shuttle but right now the focus on the customers and ensuring that they are okay. Is it critical . I think the govenor answered that. There were 11 critical and the rest were less so. Can you address what the standard pro sai procedures are. Any curve would have a speeding restriction on it. That is something that they look at in the investigation. What we do know is the operator is being treated. We do know that four people lost nartheir lives today in the holy season after thanksgiving and they are in our thoughts and prayers. Their families have not yet been notified. Lets all say a prayer and remember knows peopl o those the lost this morning. Well lot th let the first resps do their job and well tell you when it the service will be restored. But we need some more information before we da can mae any hard determinations on that. I want to thank the First Responders who are doing a fantastic job right now i want to thank commissioner kelly for his help this morning. What is the next step in the process right now. All right you have been listening of course to the govenor and also someone from the metro north. Between the two of us we can wrap up what the govenor was saying. I will let you take over. Here is what we do know. There were more than 100 people on this train. There are four fa fatalities. Eleven are critically injured. There are some who are less injured. The people that are being cared for are at area hospitals. And we know that the fatalities, the people who did die in this terrible accident were in the first two cars. And im sure that you guys have a visual on that right now. Those appear to be in pretty bad shape right now. You know the govenor did say, this is a tragic situation and right now the biggest priority are caring for the people that have been injured. They are trying to stabilize the situation. They are not going to give too many details on what may exactly have caused it. We know the operator of the train is alive and is being cared for. They are going to give us updates throughout the day. This did happen 3weu6 obvioun a curve and the curves have speed restrictions. One thing i can add is that the spokesperson says there are black boxes on these trains. And these black boxes should be able to tell you how fast the train was traveling that will be something that they will be able to figure out very i have very,y quickly. There is so much speculation but at some point there will not be specspeculation on how fast the train was going. Its marc the nta who says thera black box. And she also says the curve this derailment happened is in a slow speed area. What exactly does that mean in a slow speed area. That again depends on the context of the rail line and the procedures of the nta. Whatever the normal cruising speed is for a straight piece of track it will be considerably less for the curve and if bun looks aonelooks at the overheadt curve is near the station. This goes to the nta and the procedures of that train and whether the procedures were followed and whether there was equipment issues. Its very clear that the ntsb will be the lead organization for this investigation although as is typically the case, they will involve the nta which is the operator of the train in this investigation. So together, between the ntsb looking at it from their perspective and their rather expen oextensive experience inn derailmentses it wilrailments ir what caused the accident. Todd if you could stay close we are getting the reaction from the people on the train one passenger spoke about the terrifying incident a few moments ago. Lets listen. I was sitting on the train and not paying attention to anything in particular and then the at any rat train felt a lite sideways and then when i looked up it was going off the track. I was in a lucky car i was in the one that landed 90 degrees sideways and no one was hurt and we all got out okay. I didnt realize the state of the other cars until i got out and i could see everybody. It sounds like a terrifying experience that she is describing there, todd. You can see there is a bit of a mark on her face. Its amazing that anybody actually as many people survived this as they actually d lets talk about how the cars are designed for people to be able to survive the worst. A key difference between rail cars and other transportation there are no seatbelts of any kind. I dont know the configuration of these so i cant speak to that. Typically you dont see the restraints put into trains as you do aircraft for one most of the accidents are not as bad as this one today. But derailing entirely and turning sideways and rolling beyond 90 degrees that is unusual for passenger trains or freight trains for that matter. One thing i will say, when an event like this happens and the ntsb and the other relevant parts of the government look at this, what is the survivability of this accident . Are there things about the design and operation of vehicles that could be changed to make this event more surviv survivabn the future. That is a fairly long process. The ntsb does not have authority to make regulatory changes but they have the power to make suggestions of changes. That is one of the things i will be looking at when the report comes out some months from now. What recommendation, if any, would they have to make rail travel safer for passengers. You always hope that they can make it better for passengers. Lets go back to the scene. Kelly is at the scene. The govenor gave us a lot of new information. Is the govenor still there and the Police Commissioner still there assessing the scene . Have they left. They both have left the area where the press conference has just been held. But Police Commissioner kelly just gave a few remarks off to the side and did say that there were 63 people in local hospitals that were taken to the hospital. 63 people taken to hospital and four fatalities and we know that more than 100 people were on this train. 11 critically injured. And we are still kind of looking at the scene as the responders walk the tracks and continue to try to figure out what exactly happened here. One question that bass put t to the govenor was there any one unaccounted for. We saw live pictures of the divers in the water certainly looking for people. And i hope im clear on this. Gogovenor seemed to say they werent looking for anybody else or there wasnt anyone unaccounted for. Im not exactly sure. It looks like somebody else is getting ready to speak right now it might be an eye witness im going to head over to choke that out. Out check that out. The govenor did ask people to call 311 if they were trying to locate. Do keep it here on al jazeera the hudson line of the metro north rail system. A seven car train on its way from po poa kip see poughkeepsi. Itto Grand Central station. This is what happened. And there is another press conference happening right now for us to get more information. Lets go ahead and listen. Do you have anyone unaccounted for chief . We have no victims left at the scene. They are all being cared for and treated. We dont know how many people were on the train. We are trying to get that from the nta. They are trying to check back and look into that. Right now we believe that everyone is accounted for. You said three of the four fatalities were not on the train. Can you elaborate. We believe three of the four fatalities were thrown out as the train came off the track and was twisting and turning. Did you have to make any water rescues. No the nypd are in the harbor and they are searching the water right in the immediate area as well as nypd using their dogs and they searched the entire shore to ensure this was no walking wounded round. The train is pretty beat up. The train flipped to some degree. And some right the themselves when they flipped. There was a lot of damage inside and personal belongings thrown around. Any personnel injured. We have no injuries right now. They did a tremendous job getting people out of the trainintrainsand getting to thes soon as possible. Any moa moat metro north employs seriously injured . We dont have that yet. We know that the conductor was spoke to entspokewasnwasspoken. The cause of the investigation is ongoing and its going to take some time. When it comes to the rescue operation i know its something that you have been drilled on repeatedly. Asite from thaside from the obvr were there any surprises. We drill all the time. Wwe drill with our special operations people and we are drilling today at the training acanadamcanadaaacademy. And we drill on ge getting peope off the scene for medical care. Its sunday morning on a Holiday Weekend it was a light load on the train it d could have endedp in the water. It could have been a monday morning. Do you have a sense of a scope of what this could have been . On a workday fully occupied it would have been a tremendous disaster. One of the first things we do and we contact the nta any idea how many people were on the train. So we know what we are facing and what resources we have to get here. During the week during rush hour that would have been serious. How many people were on the train. We are trying to asker is ass contain that right now. Well contact the hospitals close by to see if there were any victims that walked in after the incident. The passengers may be standing at the station. That is one of the things that we are looking at there is november a goonever a good time. As it approaches people are standing up and getting jostled around more. When it you arrive at a scene you ask how many people were on the train. I was asking that on my way here. You still dont know. Its Difficult People getting on at different stops there are a lot of stops between. Thank you gentlemen. An yo update there. So you have been listening to some officals with the Fire Department of new york and in particular the commissioner that basically confirming the numbers we got from the govenor. One thing beef no we have not be to get confirmed. The to owe officals do not knoww many people were on that train. They said they themselves need to know as soon as possible if only to know how how many rescue people responded. Its difficult to know that because of how many people get on and off the train. And right now its difficult to know people that injured would simply walk to the hospital. They dont know how many people were on the train. And im going to bring in transportation expert todd curtis. They want to get a true picture of what happened . Absolutely. There may be other consideration that may not have been stated. One thing about the fact that the ntsb is investigating shows to me at this point that there is indication that this is it a deliberate act or crime. One reason they want to talk to everyone on the train is to make sure that everyone was there as a passioa passenger and not doig Something Else. The other issue for not just the nstta and ntsb the injured peope may have walked to the hospital. There may be have been people that are injured and dont realize they are injured. And saying fe gee i survived ths brush and go home and relax. They may have other medical issues. My suggestion is that anyone that was on the train or knows someone on the train, get themselves checked out. Just to verify you were there and you are okay. They may have a piece of the story and a piece of this investigation that is so key to understanding what happened . Absolutely. And also, again, in the day of social media someone may have photos et cetera of the event and say gee i will see if i can get a good deal for this and a little cash for this. That is legitimate and it could be information that is essential for the investigation. If anyone has any information try to get it in to the hands of the authorities so they can make sense of this. Having said that the officals said they were open and clear that they department know how dy people were on the train they also said they didnt think there was anyone unaccounted for. They seemed fel confident aboutt part too. How could that be. They can. They have fluid information coming in from the scene right now and they may have more information than the they are releasing in the press conference about what happened and who was on the train. Again i wouldnt take any particular thing they said as the absoulte gospel at that at s point. Overtime it will be clear what they know. As you and i were talking this jumbled mess of waterlo what waa passenger train. This seven car passenger train Metro North Hudson line. We dont know how many but the guess from the govenor about a hundred people were on the going from poughkeepsie to Grand Central station. And accounts are coming in from survivors well play a little bit of a witness account that came into al jazeera. Lets hear that. I was sitting on the train and i wasnt paying attention to anything in particular and the train felt a little more sideways than it should be. And by the time i looked up it was com completely going off the track. There was rubble from the track flying up in my face. I was in a lucky car and it landed 90 degrees sideways and no in my car was hurt and we got out okay. And i goo i didnt realize the e of the other cars until i got out. She describes being in a lucky car. We havwe are reporting on the vy latest. What else can you add . Are you there . I think we lost her for the moment. Lets go ahead and take a quick break and keep it here on al jazeera for the latest on the Train Derailment. Power of the people until we restore our freedoms and lets try that again the govenor has been on the scene. In the Holiday Season right after thanksgiving. They are in our thoughts and prayers and their families have not yet been notified. So basically the govenor has been assessing the scene this morning with the commissioner ray kelly by his side. Thfour people lost their lives this morning. Which is always a tragedy given the context of the Holiday Weekend. He expressed his gratitude to the emergency workers on the scene everyone hundred emergency workers have been on the scene. Five minutes before 6 00 the train left po poughkeepsie. Its an hour and 45 minute train ride and its to pull into Grand Central state station at 7 45. Fewer people lost their lives. And 63 people were injured and 11 of them critically. The front rail car making it right there to the edge of the water and some of the people who were killed were thrown in to the water. Three of the four people that were killed were in that front rail car. Al jazeera has been on the scene throughout the morning. One of the reporters morgan rad forradraradradford is on th. It appears that a lot of members are packing up. We can hear the helicopters in the back ground right now we are talking to bystanders. Right now i am talking to a witness who can see the curve in the train tracks. I was about to interrupt you. We are going to listen to the Police Commissioner ray kelly who is speaking right now. We provide support to them and that information will be made available to the National Transportation safety board. Is there anyone possibly under the train still . We have used our dogs right on top of the train. I mean there is we dont want to discount it totally at this time. Its most unlikely but i can say, with certainty there isnt. Where is the. He is in the hospital. He has been spoken to. He made unofficial statemen statements. Obviously he will be interviewed by the ntsb. What condition is he in . Im sorry . What condition is he in. He is in stable condition. He got banged up somewhat but he is conscious and alert. The second derailment in this area is there something going on with the tracks here . Well have to wait for the ntsb to make the determines. Determination. Did the engineer indicate any. Well keep the information for the ntsb. Its been reported that he said he applied the brakes but it didnt slow down. Im not in a position to conif i recall or deny that. Are you aware of the status of the attorneys of where they are in terms of the casualty count. Of the employees . Of the employees that were on the train. There were three conductors on the train and the motor man. They have all been located i believe. And im not certain of their condition. Do you have any sense of how many people were on the train and is everyone accounted for . There is an estimate of perhaps 100 people on the train. We know that we have a total of 67 injuries now, what can happen in an incident like this is people show up in hospitals on their own. The chief had detectives stationed at the hospital. We cant give you a precise number as to how many people were on this train. It carries various types of tickets so there is no way to determine the number of people by the ticket use. The fay it will tease were they customers or employees. We are still trying to determine that. Male, female, child. Sorry. Male, female, child. I dont. Has the families been notified. No. Can you describe the cars we are looking at that the engine ended up where the conductor was . I dont have that information. Anything else . Okay thanks. Appreciate it. You have been listening to nypd commissioner. So that is the new york city Police Commissioner ray kelly adding some information to this ongoing story. He says that the family members of the four people who lost their lives in this Train Derailment have not been notified. He says the ntsb will be the lead Investigative Team on this accident. And they should arrive on the scene in a little over an hour, at noon. Also he said there were three conductors on this train and the train operator. And that train operator was injured and he seemed to indicate not seriously injured. This person was alert and talking. And im sure that investigators will be talking to this person if they have not already begun talking to this person. Loath me get back now to one of our reporters on the scene. Morgan radford. What else do you have . Richelle im balking down the steps trying to get a closer view of what exactly is going on. I am seeing a growing number of injuries and i want to get to the bottom of this to see how many fatalities and injuries we are getting conflicting reports. We are seeing camera crews and ambulances under you can see the helicopters buzzing in the background and i will bring you back the latest information and hopefully a clearer view on what is happening on the scene. Ry shell. Thanthank you morgan. The numbers we got from the Fire Department 63 people injured and 11 critically. As morgan said that number could be different. The term they used the walking wounded. There may be people that walked themselves to get treatment at the hospital they dont know how many people were injured and there may have been people not seriously injured and decided to get treatment someplace else. They dont know how many people were on the train. That is the number they are trying to nail down and they want to nail down that number. Everybody that is on that train is a key witness to figure out exactly what happened here. And how it happened and what they can learn from it Going Forward and how to prevent Something Like this from happening again. And what happened is this seven car train derailed 20 minutes after 7 00 causing four people to lose their lives. This is the hudson line. As you can imagine as a result of this the hudson line is not operating and the empire line that is operated by amtrak that line is also shutdown as well to stabilize the scene. And the ntsb will be arriving a little over an hour at noon to begin their investigation to figure out what exactly happened here. What we also know is there is a black box. There have been preliminary accounts that the train was going fasth. We dont know how fast the train was going. That is something that they will be able to nail down quickly. How fast the train was going and whether it was a factor at all. The govenor has been on the scene lets play a little bit of what the govenor said. Four people lost their lives today in the Holiday Season right after thanksgiving. And they are in our thoughts. And prayers. Thetheir families have not yet n notified. And we are starting to get passenger accounts. Lets go ahead and listen to what a young woman went through and what she said she was on what she considers one of the lucky cars. I was sitting on the train and not paying attention to anything in particular and then the train felt a little more sideways and then when i looked up it was going off the track. I was in a lucky car i was in the one that landed 90 degrees sideways and no one was hurt and we all got out okay. I didnt realize the state of the other cars until i got out and i could see everybody. We heard from the fire commissioner also on the scene this morning. Lets listen to what had he had to say. When we got here naturally it was a traumatic scene. We had people in cars and we had to use some of our air bags to lift up portions of the train and we had to use cutting equipment and as the govenor said, to reiterate we have four fatalities and 63 other injuries and h 11 very series. Of course that is not the fire commissioner morgan rad rad continues to be on the scene and its a fluid situation and we get updates practically every favoufive or step ten minutes mo you have an update for me . Inhi richelle. I want to make sure that i canblcanbring you the latest nun the injuries and talk to people on the scene righ. Right now the Police Officers say they are going to provide more information in a press conference shortly. I asked what time and ow he wast able to tell me. Right now sometim im trying tod more people to tell us what happened. We should be looking forward to another update at the scene. Lilet us know and al jazeera wil be on top of that. An active scene in the bronx a train has derailed. A seven car train the hudson line. Back in july the hudson line derailed in the bronx. The govenor himself confirming four people lost their lives and h11 people critically injured well stay on the story throughout the day as it develops. Keep it here on al jazeera america. Dont go anywhere. Controversial. Both parties are owned by the corporations. Entertaining its fun to play with ideas. Thought provoking get your damn education. Surprising oh, absolutely . Exclusive oneonone interviews with the most interesting people of our time. Youre listening because you want to see whats going to happen. I want to know what works what do you know works . Conversations you wont find anywhere else. Talk to al jazeera. Only on al jazeera america. Oh my power of the people until we restore our freedoms and rights. On this occasion i would like to honour the memory of those who have fallen, and i appreciate and pray to those who have been injure injured, offering condolences to their families, assuring them that their blood will water the tree of freedom for the homeland. Here ends the message. President. The president reiterated to us that he is Holding Steadfast and adhering to his legitimacy as the lawful legal president of egypt. This was a message dig tated verbally to dictated verbally to us by the president mohamed well come to al jazeera america. Here are the stories we are following for i you. A train derailed in new york city and injuring 63 and killing four. Demonstrators try to take control of the Thai Government headquarters. We begin with a breaking news out of the bronx. Where a metro north train passenger train derailed earlier this morning