New York commuter train derails, four dead, 67 injured

New York: At least four people were killed and 67 others injured when a commuter train bound for Grand Central Station derailed in the Bronx area of New York City on SUnday.

The train derailed on a large curved section of track at 7:20 a.m. in New York about 100 yards (meters) north of Metro North's Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx borough, said Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for Metro North, a subsidiary of New York State's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Six of the Metro-North train's eight carriages came off the tracks, the New York Fire Department said. One car was just feet away from the Harlem River.

Police divers were in the water hours after the crash searching for survivors, CNN reported. At least two of the dead appeared to have been ejected from the train, it quoted a source in New York City police as saying.

Over 100 firefighters are responding to the scene. The train came off the tracks just as it was coming around a sharp curve. The derailment occurred near where a freight train derailed in July, WCBS reported. No one was injured in that accident.

Spuyten Duyvil is a neighbourhood in the Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City.

In a message posted on its website, Metro North said the "Hudson Line service is temporarily suspended between Croton Harmon and Grand Central". A passenger, Frank Tatulli, told WABC he thought the train was travelling faster than usual. He got out on his own despite suffering head and neck injuries.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has been informed about the train derailment in New York and is being updated regularly on it, the White House said.

"Soon after train derailment the President was briefed by Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism," a White House official said. Obama will continue to be updated as new information becomes available.

"His thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families who lost a loved one and everyone affected by this incident," the official said. The White House will continue to stay in contact with the federal, state and local partners as they respond to this event, the official added. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was preparing to tour the scene, a spokesman for the governor said.

Sunday marks the end of America's Thanksgiving holiday, which annually sees many people take time off to enjoy a long weekend and travel home to their families across the United States.