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LIRR Train Strikes 2 Vehicles In Riverhead

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- It was a scary scene after a Long Island Rail Road train collided with two vehicles at busy intersection in Riverhead Thursday.

The accident happened shortly before 2 p.m. at the Mill Road crossing.

The diesel-powered train with 15 passengers on board was traveling west from Greenport to Ronkonkoma.

Kim Brehm and her 4-year-old daughter had just cleared the Mill Road grade crossing before the gates came down. They witnessed a gray Mercedes and tan Honda sport-utility vehicle involved in a rear end collision, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.

One driver was eating an ice cream cone when she got bumped from behind.

"I just heard the crunch and looked in my rear-view mirror and I saw one car bump the other one into the crossing," Brehm said.

"One woman was stopped and someone else rear-ended her and pushed her into front of the train and both got clipped," said witness Sue Brown.

Inital reports from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York State police indicate among the five people in the two cars, there were no life threatening injuries.

CBS2 has learned the injured Mercedes driver is from Manorville, Long Island. She was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook and was in critical, but stable, condition.

Witnesses saw her get hit after getting her ice cream cone from a stand near the crash scene.

"She comes in quite often. It's unfortunate," said Sheri Hysell, manager of the ice cream stand. "But I'm glad that she survived."

The second victim was in a sport-utility vehicle registered to a driver from Elizabeth, New Jersey – reported in serious condition. That victim was taken by ambulance to the Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

Three others in the cars unbelievably walked away from the accident without injury. Frightened passengers said the train thankfully was moving slowly – having just pulled out of the Riverhead station.

"The train just suddenly jostled and came to a stop and we saw the cars and bodies on either side and they used the jaws of life on one of them," said LIRR passenger Mark Anderson.

Inside the train, Anderson said he and fellow passengers were definitely rattled. "It was tense for a little bit."

Twenty-one people onboard the train from Greenport were bused to Ronkonkoma. Fortunately, none were hurt.

Passengers credited the conductor and first responders.

"It was frightening to be part of something where there is nobody there in beginning, and you're watching – you can see the people hurt," said passenger Keturah Hurst of Shelter Island. "But they had to cut the person in this car out."

Mill Road was closed in both directions for several hours while the track and cars were cleared and the breakaway crossing gate was repaired, TV 10/55 Long Island Bureau Chief Richard Rose reported.

Late Thursday, the MTA repaired the gates and grade crossing and declared the LIRR tracks in Riverhead safe for passage.

The MTA said Thursday night that the gate was new, constructed of fiberglass rather than wood. It was made to break away when struck and cause less serious injuries.

The MTA said there was no damage to the tracks. Both cars were towed away for further inspection.

Black boxes will reveal train speed, and whether systems were functioning properly.

The accident comes a day after the MTA formalized a partnership with the nation's leading rail safety organization to raise awareness about railroad track dangers, McLogan reported.

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