6 killed, 12 hurt when train hit SUV near New York City

Five of the people killed in the fiery crash were train passengers, and the sixth fatality was a female driver of a Jeep, the official said.

A Metro Transit Authority official said the collision happened about 7 p.m. when the gates at the two-track Commerce Street crossing near Valhalla came down on top of a Jeep Cherokee stopped on the tracks.

The driver got out to look at the rear of the vehicle, drove forward and was struck, the MTA official said. She was outside the vehicle when the train struck, the official said.