A fire broke out under a PATH commuter train on Monday morning in Jersey City, N.J., sending passengers to the hospital and causing panic during rush hour as people raced to escape flames and smoke.
The fire began shortly after 6 a.m. at the Newport PATH station in Jersey City. The fire ignited below one of the train cars, Port Authority officials said. They are investigating the cause of the flames.
Thirteen people were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene, officials said. Nine of them were hospitalized for further evaluation.
Video footage shared on social media shows passengers on the train begging the conductor to open the doors as the smoke crept closer, filling the car with a yellow haze. People can be heard encouraging each other to stay calm as flames flickered outside the windows, while they waited to get to safety.
When the doors finally opened, passengers fled onto the platform, with at least one person saying they had left a wallet on board in the rush to breathe clean air. Flames can be seen nearby, licking the sides of the train.
The fire caused service suspensions of the PATH lines that take passengers between Midtown Manhattan and Jersey City, and between the World Trade Center and Hoboken.
Passengers shared their accounts of the fire online, with one person reporting hearing a “loud explosion” right before it broke out.
“This was not just smoke,” said another, adding that the car “was literally in flames.”
Taylor Robinson is a Times reporter covering the New York City metro area.
The post Fire Breaks Out Beneath PATH Train in Jersey City appeared first on New York Times.
