NEW YORK, Feb 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least three people were killed Tuesday night when a Long Island Rail Road train crashed into a truck on the tracks near the Westbury station, then slammed into the platform and derailed, the police said.
The train, which was traveling west toward New York City from Ronkonkoma, was approaching the station at about 7 p.m. when it struck the truck at the grade crossing at School Street, a spokesman for the railroad said.
Service was suspended on the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson branches, said the spokesman, Chris McKniff.
Three passengers in the truck were killed, Commissioner Patrick Ryder of the Nassau County Police told News 12 Long Island. He said the truck tried to beat the train at the crossing, which had its guard lowered.
After striking the truck, Ryder said, the train slammed into the platform and derailed.
The crash was the second fatal incident on the railroad on Tuesday. At about 3:45 p.m., a westbound train struck and killed a pedestrian between the stations in Baldwin and Freeport, McKniff said. That accident caused long delays for commuters who were trying to get home from Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan.
McKniff said service had been restored around 5:45 p.m., about an hour before the crash in Westbury. — NNN-AGENCIES
