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PATH Train from Midtown Crashes in NJ, Injuring 33

By Tom Liddy | May 8, 2011 9:04pm
Medics tend to a victim of Sunday's PATH train crash in Hoboken.
Medics tend to a victim of Sunday's PATH train crash in Hoboken.
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Andrew Burton/Getty Images

By Tom Liddy

DNAinfo News Editor

MANHATTAN - A PATH train that originated in Manhattan crashed into an abutment in the Hoboken station Sunday morning, tossing people around and leaving dozens injured, authorites said.

All of the 33 injuries were minor in the 9 a.m. incident, according to a Port Authority spokeswoman.

Officials said that the train, which started its journey at 33rd Street in Midtown, crashed into a bumper at the end of the track in the Hoboken station, sending people flying.

"The train was moving well and all was right, but once we got to Hoboken, it all went wrong," said Mahmoud Metwali, 26, a Midtown food cart worker who was on his way home to Jersey City, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The first car slammed into the turnstiles and destroyed about four machines.  People were stunned and there was a lot of smoke."

Metwali suffered a bloody nose and was knocked over when people poured out of the train after the doors were finally opened, the paper said.

"I thought it was an explosion, terrorism or something," Cesar Cayancela, a carpenter from Queens said. "People were screaming, trying to get off the train."

The PA spokeswoman said that the train temporarily jumped up off the tracks upon impact but then came right back down.

A picture in the Newark Star-Ledger shows that the train crushed a good portion of the platform.

Service to and from Hoboken was suspended through much of the day and restored Sunday night.

Hoboken officials were urging commuters to take alternate means of transportation Monday morning including bus, light rail and ferry, according to the city's Web site.

The Port Authority was expected to work through the night to restore full service by the morning.

Because of the accident:

*New Jersey Transit will have increased bus service beginning at 5:30 a.m. on the 126 and 87 routes and will be cross-honoring PATH tickets.

*Commuters can also take the light rail from the Hoboken Terminal to Newport where the can get service to New York.  Tickets will also be cross-honored.

*NY Waterway ferries will accept cash to meet increased demand.

*And Hoboken-bound NJ Transit riders can switch at Secaucus Junction to go to Penn Station.

It's not clear how the accident will affect the ride from Manhattan to New Jersey.