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MTA Employee Hurt After Two Subway Work Trains Collide In East River Tunnel

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker was seriously injured Wednesday when two subway work trains collided in an East River tunnel between Manhattan and Queens.

As CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported, repairs in the tunnel have been causing subway disruptions this week.

The accident happened around 5 a.m. Wednesday. An hour and 15 minutes later, the MTA employee was carried out on a gurney from the 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue E and M train station and was carted onto a waiting ambulance.

NYPD Emergency Service Units and FDNY crews on Roosevelt Island had to rush to get to an access point that would lead them to the injured employee.

The employee was ultimately brought into Midtown and then to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue for treatment.

At the time of the crash, an ongoing 24-hour extensive construction project was under way, and it shut down the commuter line. The MTA is working to install four miles of train control cabling, replace 700 feet of track and 2,000 feet on the third rail, and clear drains.

Thus, the incident had no impact on service.

The injured worker suffered a broken rib and a punctured lung. Three other workers were treated and released from the hospital.

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