New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed on Wednesday that six people were killed and over a dozen were injured after a Metro-North train slammed into a SUV Tuesday night.

The deadly crash occurred during rush-hour on Tuesday as a north-bound train was traveling near White Plains in Westchester County and hit a Jeep Cherokee that was stalled on the train tracks at a crossing intersection, Reuters reports.

Five passengers on the train died, along with the driver of the Jeep. Fifteen people were also injured, including seven who have been listed in very serious condition.

"The number of deceased in the train itself dropped from six to five, so that was actually good news," said Cuomo on "CBS This Morning."

Officials say the driver of the black Jeep was trying to beat the train at the crossing at Lakeview Avenue in Valhalla, New York.

"It looks like where she stopped she did not want to go on the tracks, but the proximity of the gate to her car, you know, it was dark -- maybe she didn't know she was in front of the gate," Rick Hope, who witnessed the tragic accident, told Fox affiliate WNYW.

Hope added that she seemed to be confused when she was on the tracks.

According to Cuomo, the driver was positioned in the worse possible place.

"That SUV was right in the middle of the track and was hit directly in the middle of the car by the train," he said, according to The New York Times.

The train then pushed the vehicle about 400 feet.

"And 400 feet down, it was still on the middle of the track," Cuomo explained.

Cuomo adding that the vehicle "it wrapped around the train and exploded."

The Jeep also caused the electrified third rail to tear from the tracks and burst through the first car in the train.

"This was as gruesome as I have seen," Cuomo said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency that runs the railroad, declared that the crash was the deadliest accident in the history of Metro-North.

The National Transportation Safety Board will launch an investigation to examine the signals at the crossing, the highway that intersects the rail tracks and the fire, said board member Robert Sumwalt.

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