Six people were killed and 15 injured when a Metro-North train slammed into an SUV dashing across the tracks in Westchester Tuesday night, causing a massive explosion and fire that trapped rush-hour commuters inside, sources said.

The Harlem Line train was heading toward the Hawthorne station when a woman driving a black Jeep Cherokee tried to cross the tracks and was bulldozed.

The impact unhinged the electrified third rail, which pierced the lead car and caused a blast that ripped apart the passenger compartment, where five of the victims died, sources said. The driver of the Jeep also died.

“No one here has ever seen anything like this,” a law enforcement source told The Post. “There were people with severed limbs. It was a gruesome scene.”

Passengers in the train’s other cars heard the blast and feared for their lives.

“I was horrified — the crash and the flames,” said passenger Devon Champagne, 23, of Brookfield, Conn. “I thought I was going to die for a minute. It was the scariest moment of my life.”

A man wearing a Federal Railroad Administration vest looks over the wreckage of a a Metro-North Railroad train and an SUV in Valhalla, NY, on Feb. 4, 2015 AP AP WNBC WNBC JB@anabolicapple/twitter JB@anabolicapple/twitter GMVIDEOPRODUCTIONS AP AP AP William C. Lopez William C Lopez William C. Lopez Getty Images AP Emergency workers at the scene of the crash. Reuters Reuters Emergency workers stand in and around a burned Metro-North train. Reuters Getty Images JB@anabolicapple/twitter Firefighters work at the scene. Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News/lohud.com William C. Lopez William C. Lopez William C. Lopez Passengers removed from the train are escorted away from the scene. William C. Lopez William C. Lopez Ad Up Next Close Home, sweet --- nope Bad news: Mayor de Blasio wants to manage the city’s... 26 View Slideshow Back Continue Share this: Facebook

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The deadly chain of events began as the crossing-barricade arm came down on the back of the Cherokee on Commerce Street, a witness said.

Instead of backing up, the driver — who was stopped in traffic caused by an earlier car accident — continued to cross the tracks, after first getting out to check the damage to her SUV.

“I’m signaling and yelling for her to back up and reverse, and I’m thinking the clock is ticking here,” said Richard Hope, who was driving behind her. “But she gets back in her car and starts driving forward over the tracks.”

The Jeep didn’t get far — and was pulverized by train.

“The train hit her the second she drove over,” Hope said. “Maybe she thought she had enough time to make it to the other side of the tracks.”

Passengers on the train said they felt a jolt upon impact.

“I felt a big bump and I just kind of shot forward a little bit,” said Fred Buonocore, 45, of Ridgefield, Conn. “Then everything went ­silent.”

As the 60-foot piece of third rail pierced the train, the locomotive continued for hundreds of feet, dragging the Jeep.

“We heard a huge explosion at the front of the train. It was just like, ‘Kapow!’ ” Buonocore said.



“People starting screaming and freaking out.”

Other passengers tried to get to the commuters in the first car.

“They were basically trapped in there with the fire,” said passenger Jamie Wallace, 44, of Ridgefield, Conn. “A few of us in my car tried to break the glass so we could get through, but to no avail.”

Some of the passengers began to panic as the compartment became engulfed in flames.

“People were clearly getting more and more anxious, and that’s when we started to get the emergency doors and windows open,” Buonocore said.

“I cut my hand a little after I bashed some emergency glass and slid the emergency door open, and then we all just started climbing off the train.”

As the commuters escaped the inferno, they witnessed the devastation around them.

“I saw a few passengers with pretty bad injuries,” said Jamie Wallace, 44. “One person had a broken leg and another a broken rib. But at least they have their lives. That’s a blessing in this kind of ­situation.”

The front of the train was left charred and smoking. “The front car looks like an empty husk now, totally burned to a crisp,” Buonocore said.

In addition to the six fatalities, about a dozen people were rushed in serious condition to Westchester Medical Center, according to authorities.

A total of about 650 passengers were on the train when the collision occurred.

Scores of passengers were taken to a mobile command center set up at a Valhalla gym.

The tragedy, which occurred after a spate of Metro-North derailments in the past two years, was the deadliest crash in the system’s history.

In December 2013, four people were killed in a Metro-North train derailment when the engineer dozed off in The Bronx.

In May 2013, a train derailed in Bridgeport, Conn., and was struck by another train, injuring 73 passengers.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer on Tuesday night released a statement mourning the victims.

“Our hearts go out to those lost, we pray for those injured and our hats are tipped to the brave first responders who came to the scene of this tragic crash so quickly,” the statement read.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino added, “To see the third rail come from the bottom of the train and go through that first car is just unimaginable. The flames and the heavy smoke were so bad that people were just trying to get off as fast as they could. I imagine there must have been so much panic. Everything was so burned out. It was a burned-out scene.”

Schumer said he spoke to MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast and was assured that a full and thorough investigation was under way.

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board were on their way to the scene Tuesday night to begin their investigation into the crash.

The MTA said that people who had loved ones who were affected by the Valhalla accident should call 1-800-METRO-Info. There is also a family assistance center at the Mount Pleasant Town Hall.

Metro-North riders should expect delays and crowding tomorrow on the Harlem line. Customers can take a bus shuttle to North White Plains, then catch a train there. There will be no train service in Valhalla or Hawthorne.

The railroad will cross-honor tickets on the New Haven and Hudson lines tomorrow.

Top image by Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News/lohud.com

Additional reporting by Kirstan Conley and Matt McNulty