NEW YORK: Seventy-eight people were killed in one of the worst smashes in American history when a train crowded with holiday-makers rammed another in the Queens district of New York last night [Nov 23]. This was announced by the police after the last body had been removed from the Wreckage today. The injured totalled 182. Each of the two trains was carrying about 1,000 passengers on their way home for the annual American Thanksgiving Holiday today.

The leading train had stopped to let off two women passengers who had got on by mistake. The second train crashed into it, telescoping the rear coach. An hour and a half after the crash, high on a viaduct running through the Queens district, emergency squads working with searchlights were still trying to get at trapped passengers. Fifty doctors were called to tend the injured, says Reuter.

UPA adds: Police officials announced 76 bo­­d­ies were recovered from wreck, although a railroad spokesman set the death toll at 78. It is estimated 300 persons were injured. … There were 76 ... bodies at Queens County mor­gue along with parts of bodies. … 59 persons remained in hospitals… .

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2025