One person is dead and 23 others are injured after a train on the New Jersey River Line Light Rail track crashed into a tree just north of Roebling Station, near US 130, in Mansfield Township, just after 6 a.m. on Monday.
It happened as the train was traveling southbound from Trenton on the light rail that connects Camden with the capital city.
The train operator was killed, according to officials. The name of the operator has not yet been released to the public.
The train had 42 customers on board at the time of the incident. Of the passengers, 23 sustained non-life-threatening injuries, which are said to be mostly minor. The other 19 were accommodated by a bus.
A large piece of the tree was visible under the front of the train as people were being removed from the scene on stretchers.
NJ Transit reported that River Line service is suspended in both directions between Florence and Trenton stations due to a downed tree across the tracks near Roebling Station but substitute bus service is being provided.
Route 130 southbound between Burlington and Kinkora roads is also closed.
People who live nearby said they have never seen anything like this.
“We’ve never heard of an accident since the beginning. We’ve been here for about 40 years and we never never heard of an accident with the River Line,” said one neighbor interviewed by a Philadelphia television news crew.
“We heard all the ambulance, the helicopters and we had to come down here to see and they told us that the River Line derailed, unfortunately, and some people may be hurt or possibly dead,” said another neighbor. “So keep everyone in your prayers [and] let everyone be ok.”
There is a staging area for the families of those injured at the River Front Motel.
New Jersey Transit Police are on scene and investigating.
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