DFA said no Pinoys were included in more than 100 injured in New Jersey train accident.
The Department of Foreign Affairs allayed fears of Filipinos with relatives in the United States especially in New Jersey following the train accident that occurred on Thursday night.
On Thursday night, Philippine time, a train plowed into a station in New Jersey where a woman who was waiting on the platform was killed while more than 100 other commuters were injured.
According to DFA spokesman Charles Jose, no Filipinos were hurt in the deadly train accident at a New Jersey station in the US.
“So far we have not received report of any Filipino affected by the train crash in NJ,” Jose said.
According to report, train #1614 originated from Spring Valley in New York state and the New Jersey station was the last stop on its journey.
One woman was killed and she was identified as Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, 34, a corporate lawyer from Hoboken.
The accident happened at the height of Thursday’s morning rush hour (US time), where the more than 100 people injured because it brought down part of the roof and scattered debris over the concourse.
The train’s engineer was one of those injured and taken to hospital but later released, officials said.
The front of the train smashed through the track stop at high speed and into the Hoboken terminal, toppling support columns and creating chaos at one of the busiest transit hubs in the New York City area.
In a news conference, US National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman Bella Dinh-Zarr said the train’s event recorder will be examined as part of the investigation. Th event recorder tracks speed, braking and other data.
According to the board, the investigation into the incident is expected to last from one week to 10 days.
In a news conference in Hoboken, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said,”We have no indication that this is anything other than a tragic accident but … we’re going to let the law enforcement professionals pursue the facts.”
The train crash was the latest in a string of fatal train crashes in the United States.
In May 2015, eight people were killed and more than 200 were injured when an Amtrak train crashed in Philadelphia.
