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Car falls 40 feet onto Commuter Rail tracks in Boston

BOSTON — Emergency crews responded to reports of a car that fell 40 feet onto Commuter Rail tracks in Boston early Wednesday morning. According to a tweet from the Boston Fire Department, the two-vehicle crash was reported around 4:40 a.m. in the area of Washington and Herald streets.

One of the vehicles ended up falling about 40 feet onto the commuter rail tracks below.

Saul Aguilar was on his way to work when he heard his son, John Galeano, was in an accident. His heart sank when he saw the video of the crash.

“I wasn’t thinking he’s alive,” Aguilar said.

Galeano is a Lyft driver, and he was taking his passengers to the airport Wednesday morning when he said another car slammed into him on Herald Street in Boston, where his car fell 40 feet onto the Commuter Rail tracks down below. His father, translating for him, said his son was pretty scared after crashing upside down on the tracks.

“He wasn’t thinking, he just felt the impact, he wasn’t thinking,” Aguilar said.

Four people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, including Galeano, who walked away from the crash with scrapes, bruises and a cut from his seat belt, which likely saved his life. His dad thanks God he’s alive.

“It’s God, you know that’s what I can say because, 40 feet, I know it’s high, especially when somebody else hits you, the impact has to be very hard,” Aguilar said. “He feels lucky he’s still alive.”

The train tracks were inspected after the crash and there was no damage to them, so the commuter lines are back up and running like normal.

A Keolis spokesperson told Boston 25 News Reporter Kelly Sullivan that crews from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Keolis were able to remove the car from the tracks and completed inspections of both the catenary and track infrastructure.

Several Commuter Rail lines were affected, with outbound trains being held at South Station and inbound trains being held between stations. All tracks were then reopened for service, although residual delays were expected. Passengers were urged to check T-Alerts and Twitter for updates.