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Ian Samuel via AP
World News

Church dispatches chaplains to hospitals after New Jersey train crash

by Antony Bushfield

More than 100 people were injured, some critically, when a commuter train ploughed into Hoboken station, a New Jersey Transit spokeswoman said.

The train from New York crashed during the Thursday morning rush hour.

It caused serious damage to both the train and station.

AP Photo/Joe Epstein

Witnesses reported injuries, including one woman who was trapped under concrete and many people bleeding.

Fr Alexander Santora from Our Lady of Grace church nearby told Premier: "I'm right next door to the hospital here so I just went over to the hospital and at that point they had only brought two people in.

"One man was bleeding quite a bit but he was conscious and they were treating him".

He added that he was praying for everyone involved and that chaplains had already been sent to all hospitals receiving patients.

"If everyone takes a moment and just asks that God be with them, especially the frightened individuals that were hurt and the first responders," Fr Alexander Santora said.

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

New Jersey Transit Spokeswoman, Jennifer Nelson, says she does not know yet how fast the train was going when it ran into the rail bumper at the end of the line.

She continued: "We have multiple injuries, multiple critical injuries right now. The terminal is shut down."

TV footage and photos from the scene show damage to the rail car and extensive structural damage to the Hoboken station.

"The next thing I know, we are ploughing through the platform," passenger Bhagyesh Shah told NBC New York.

"It was for a couple seconds, but it felt like an eternity."

@big_Poppa_Chop/PA Wire

The train came to a halt in a covered area between the station's indoor waiting area and the platform. A metal structure covering the area collapsed.

"It simply did not stop," WFAN anchor John Minko, who witnessed the crash, told 1010 WINS. "It went right through the barriers and into the reception area."

The train had left Spring Valley, New York, at 7:23am and crashed into Hoboken Terminal at 8:45am.

Hoboken, which is NJ Transit's fifth-busiest stations with 15,000 passengers every weekday, is the final stop for several train lines and a transfer point for many commuters on their way to New York City.

Fr Alexander Santora speaking to Premier's Antony Bushfield:

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