River Line train operator killed, several hurt after striking tree in Burlington County

MANSFIELD, N.J. - A River Line train operator was killed and more than a dozen passengers were hurt when officials say the train struck a tree early Monday morning. 

New Jersey Transit said the crash happened just after 6 a.m. on the southbound Trenton rail near the Roebling station. 

Thirty-six people were aboard the train when officials say it struck a downed tree, killing the train operator and leaving 16 people with minor-to-moderate injuries.

Quamir Brown says he was on the first train out on the River LINE this morning to go to work in Camden, but he didn’t make it there.

"It was just a sudden, a sudden impact, it was just crazy," said Brown. "It felt like it hit a wall, and everything came to a stop, and when it came to a stop, it was like the jolt just sent everybody in a different direction."

Fortunately, Brown says he was not physically injured in the crash. He says he went to the front of the train to check on some older passengers, and says the image of the two operators stuck with him.

"Everyone went over there to go check and you see like trees and fragments and stuff in the window, the one lady was just laid out on the ground the other dude was bent over and looked like his face was on like where they be pressing the buttons," he said. "It was a gruesome scene, real terrible."

The crash suspended service in both directions between Florence and Trenton, and NJ Transit provided a bus service instead, but some passengers told FOX 29 they were waiting for a bus for hours.

"I was up here for maybe 2 hours waiting for it," says Barry Byrd, in Trenton, New Jersey. "One bus came already with people getting off, but we couldn’t get back on."

Brown says his mom picked him up and he took the day off work. He’s not sure if he will ride the train again.

"When you see something like that and go through something like that, that’s a tragedy and that’s something you don’t ever want to experience," he says. "When you leave out the house make sure you tell your loved ones you love them, because tomorrow is never promised."

As of Tuesday, NJ Transit has resumed River LINE service in both directions between Trenton and the Entertainment Center in Camden. They say it is subject to delays of up to 20 minutes following a complete evaluation of the tracks in the vicinity of the fatal accident.