It's still unclear what prompted the driver of a Nissan Altima to steer around the lowered gates at the LIRR crossing in Brentwood yesterday, but the results were horrific. The engineer operating an equipment train with no passengers blasted the horn and pulled the emergency brake but was unable to stop in time. The train dragged the vehicle underneath its front car for a half mile before coming to a stop midway into the Brentwood station, and both the vehicle and front train car burst into flames. Here's video:
An MTA spokesman tells us that once the fire was extinguished, first responders determined there were "two individuals in the wreckage pretty much burnt beyond recognition." Their identities have not yet been determined. MTA police tell CBS 2 they believe the driver may have been trying to beat the train by driving around the closed gates. One witness told the news station, "I saw like the flames up in smoke and the train being incinerated and I saw the policemen, the firemen come and try to save people."
The Post reports that the train was traveling 80 mph at the moment of impact and speculates that the Nissan driver may have been "gabbing on a cellphone."
