NTSB to investigate derailment that killed 4, injured more than 60

NYC train derailment
First responders gather at the derailment of a Metro-North passenger train in the Bronx borough of New York Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. derailed on a curved section of track in the Bronx on Sunday morning, coming to rest just inches from the water. Metropolitan Transportation Authority police say the train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station.
Craig Ruttle/AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal investigators will try to determine why a New York City commuter train derailed while rounding a curve in the Bronx, killing four people and injuring more than 60.

The Metro-North train toppled from the track on a bend where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet, coming to rest at the water's edge.

An estimated 100 to 150 passengers were on the early morning train from suburban Poughkeepsie to Manhattan. Some were jolted awake by screams and the frightening sensation of their compartment rolling over.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Thomas F. Prendergast says investigators would look at numerous factors, including the train, the track and signal system, the operators and the speed.

An MTA spokeswoman says the speed limit on the curve is 30 mph, compared with 70 mph in the area before the curve. She says the train's data recorders should be able to tell how fast it was traveling.

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