Bloomberg visits train crash victims

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) visited victims of a crash on the city’s Metro-North commuter railway after being criticized for being out of town at the time of the accident, the New York Daily News reports.

Bloomberg, who is leaving office at the end of the year, was criticized for being on vacation in Bermuda at the time of the Sunday morning crash.

Bloomberg defended himself for not racing to the scene of the train crash.

{mosads}“What can I do?” the paper reported he said. “I’m not a professional firefighter or police officer. Nothing I can do. All I can do is make sure that the right people from New York City, our police commissioner, our fire commissioner and emergency management commissioner are there.”

The Sunday morning Metro-North crash drew national attention because it was the second high-profile accident on the New York commuter rail system this year. A pair of Metro-North trains collided in Connecticut in May of this year.

Additionally, a freight rail train that was operating on trains that are used by the Metro-North also derailed in July.

The Sunday crash occurred on a train that was traveling from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to New York City. The accident resulted in the deaths of four passengers and injuries to more than 60 others.

Federal investigators have said that the train was going 82 miles per hour in an area of track with a 30-mile-per-hour speed limit when it derailed.