Advertisement

NJ Transit settles suits in deadly crash at commuter station

HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) — NJ Transit has reached settlements in lawsuits filed by the family of a woman killed and people injured in a 2016 crash when a train slammed into a Hoboken, New Jersey, station.

NJ Transit spokesperson Nancy Snyder said settlements were reached in the lawsuits on Wednesday evening, NJ.com reported.

The agency did not specify the amounts of the settlements, but said each was more than $500,000.

Fabiola Bittar de Kroon was killed by falling debris in the Sept. 29, 2016, crash. The 34-year-old Brazil-born lawyer was in the station after having just dropped off her 2-year-old daughter at day care.

The other people who settled lawsuits with the agency for injuries were Sheldon Kest, of Tenafly; Deepti Chanana Bhalla, of Hoboken; and Bagyalakshmi Subramaniam, of Bergenfield.

Attorneys Tom Kline and Bob Mongeluzzi, who represented the De Kroon family, Subramaniam and Kest, said their clients were trying to move on with their lives.

“They remain hopeful that NJ Transit will undertake and continue to undertake the necessary safety measures and precautions to ensure a tragedy like the fatal train crash at Hoboken never happens again,” they said in a statement.

More than 100 people were injured in the crash. Investigators found that the engineer suffered from sleep apnea.

NJ Transit has since increased medical screenings for personnel and installed positive train control systems.