New Jersey Transit operator dead, 23 injured after train hits tree

A train driver is dead and 23 were injured after a New Jersey Transit train crashed into a tree early Monday, officials say.

A River LINE train was traveling south from Trenton when it crashed into a tree north of the Roebling station at 6:04 a.m., NJ Transit said in a statement.

There were a total of 42 passengers on board and 23 suffered mostly minor, non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. The remaining 19 passengers were accommodated in a bus.

Footage from an NBC New York helicopter shows a large tree trunk on the track and the front of the train completely smashed.

The New Jersey Transit Police are on scene and investigating.

River LINE service will be suspended in both directions between Florence and Trenton and replacement bus service will be provided.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wrote .”

Norris Young, a passenger on the train, told NBC Philadelphia that the train crashed into a “giant tree.”

“There was a tree on the track, I don’t know if it fell on the track or was just laying on the track,” Young said.

He said he saw passengers injured in the accident and saw at least one person being taken away on a stretcher.

“It was like a movie,” he said. “I'm still upset. Someone lost their life.”