New Jersey Train Wreck Shocks Nation

A commuter train crashed into one of the busiest train stations in the New York area during the morning rush on Thursday, killing at least one person, injuring dozens of others and creating a scene of chaos and destruction, the authorities and witnesses said.

The crash occurred around 8:45 a.m., when a commuter train slammed into the Hoboken Terminal building, Jim Smith, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, said. It came to a stop on a busy concourse near a waiting area as passengers inside the train scrambled to climb out of the windows.

“It’s just head-shaking,” Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on CNN. “Obviously, this train was traveling at a fairly high rate of speed.

Michael Larson, a New Jersey Transit worker, was in the station when the train crashed. He said he crawled on his hands and knees to pull people out of the first train car. Videos and photographs show the front of the train stopped beyond the tracks inside the station amid a jumble of mangled metal and hanging wires.

“The first car was pretty well destroyed,” Mr. Larson said. “The whole roof was caved in. The seats were broken.”

Mr. Larson, whose pant leg was bloodied, said that “by looking at the damage” he suspected there had been fatalities.

When the train arrived at the station, it went “over the bumper block, through the depot” and came to rest at the wall right before the station’s waiting area, Mr. Larson told reporters during a segment that was broadcast on CNN.

“One of the worst days I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Rail service was suspended into and out of the station, including service provided by the PATH system, which runs between Manhattan and New Jersey. Local buses and ferries began accepting New Jersey train tickets as a result of the accident, but ferry service to New York City from Hoboken was shut down at midday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said.

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http://sunnewsonline.com/u-s-new-jersey-train-wreck-shocks-nation/

New York, New Jersey Bomb Suspect Arrested After Shootout

The Afghan-born American suspect wanted in connection with weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey was taken into custody on Monday after being wounded in a shootout with police, an official said.

Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was shown stretchered into an ambulance, sporting a bloodied bandage on his right arm and moving his head from side to side with his eyes open in Linden, New Jersey, according to ABC footage.

Two Linden police officers were also shot and hurt in the exchange, said the mayor of the suspect’s neighboring hometown Elizabeth.

“Mr Rahami is currently under arrest. This occurred on Elizabeth Avenue in the city of Linden,” Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage told CNN.

“One police officer in the city of Linden was shot in the chest and one was shot in the hand. Mr. Rahami also sustained shots,” Bollwage added.

Contacted by AFP, police in Linden said they had no immediate comment.

Rahami is wanted in connection with Saturday bombings in New York’s Chelsea, which wounded 29 people, and a pipe bomb attack on the Jersey shore, which caused no injuries but forced the cancellation of a US Marine Corps race.

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http://guardian.ng/news/new-york-new-jersey-bomb-suspect-arrested-after-shootout/

New Jersey Explosion: Bomb Squad Detonates Device

A suspicious device found near a New Jersey railway station exploded as a bomb squad was attempting to disarm it with a robot, officials say.

It was one of up to five devices found in a backpack inside a rubbish bin near the station in Elizabeth, according to the city’s mayor. No-one was hurt.

The discovery came after three attacks at the weekend – bombs in New York and New Jersey, and stabbings in Minnesota.

The explosion in New York’s Chelsea area injured 29 people.

In Elizabeth, New Jersey, police detonated a device on Monday following concerns it was a live bomb.

“That was not a controlled explosion,” said Mayor Christian Bollwage, adding that the blast happened as a robot examining a device cut a wire.

FBI Newark said a suspicious package contained “multiple improvised explosive devices”.

It was picked out of a bin by two men who thought the bag could contain something of value.

“They started to examine the backpack when they found the wires and the pipes and they dropped the backpack, walked around the corner, went into police headquarters and notified us right away,” said Mr Bollwage.

In New York City, the FBI said it had stopped a “vehicle of interest” in Brooklyn on Sunday but made no arrests.

Read More: BBC