Two people are dead on Long Island after the car they were in was struck by a LIRR train this morning just east of the Brentwood station, authorities said.
The collision happened just after 10 a.m. when a non-passenger equipment train going 80 miles per hour slammed into the car, which was on the tracks near Second Street, said MTA spokesman Salvatore Arena. The engineer, conductor and another crew member on it were not injured.
Area said a witness on a bicycle saw the car drive around crossing gates at Second Street moments before it was struck, bursting into flames.
Authorities were working to identify the occupants of the car, whose bodies were “burned beyond recognition,” Arena said.
All LIRR service has been suspended on the Ronkonkoma line starting at Farmingdale. Bus service will replace the train.
David Lopez, who can see the crossing from his upstairs kitchen window, said he heard a car “trying to break” then heard “a loud boom.”
“Then there was a loud explosion and the train caught on fire,” he said.
Arena said the engineer was being questioned about what happened.
“We are checking signals to determine whether the gates were down but according to the witness the gates were down,” he said. The engineer activated the emergency brakes and honked the horn, but the train could not stop in time and carried the car for a half miles after striking it, Arena said.