At least six people were killed when a busy commuter train crashed into a car on the rails outside New York City during Tuesday evening rush hour, local media reported.
The driver of the car was killed when the train slammed into the vehicle around 6:30 pm (2330 GMT) and five passengers aboard died after flames ripped through a carriage.
Metro-North, the train operator, confirmed a Harlem Line train had struck a vehicle but did not immediately announce fatalities.
Authorities scrambled to help hundreds of shell-shocked passengers off the train, which had departed from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and passengers told NBC.
The collision occurred in Valhalla, just outside New York City, reports said, with several US media outlets reporting a dozen people were hurt.
Pictures showed a train car ablaze with thick black smoke billowing into the evening sky. Others showed what appeared to be the same carriage, gutted by smoke and fire and with its windows shattered.
