Seven dead as train hits jeep in New York

The driver of a Jeep Cherokee and six people on a commuter train that crashed into it at a railway crossing north of New York City have died.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed the deaths, after the crash at the level crossing in Valhalla.

Metro-North Railroad spokesman Aaron Donovan said the sports utility vehicle and the train both caught fire.

The rail passengers were moved to the rear of the northbound train, which had left Grand Central Terminal about 45 minutes earlier.

Service on Metro-North’s Harlem Line has been suspended between Pleasantville and North White Plains.

Metro-North is the nation’s second-busiest railroad, after the Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about 280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut.