impact pushed the stationary train forward and split its last car lengthwise as the front car of the Babylon train telescoped into it, shearing off the superstructure above the floor and driving the roof into the air. In the ensuing collision, 78 people were killed (including everyone aboard the last car of the Hempstead train, who were crushed by the impact of the Babylon train) and 363 were injured. One witness described the dead as "packed like sardines in their own blood". A survivor recounted: "All I could see was parts of bodies, arms and legs protruding from the windows". Many of those who survived the impact were trapped in the darkness, unable to move in the pileup of dead bodies, amidst the screams and wails of the dying. Response In the aftermath of the crash, all of the police detectives on duty in Queens were summoned to the site, as were 200 physicians coming from every hospital in the borough. Police and fire personnel cut through the wreckage with torches, and used ladders to allow doctors and nurses to provide medical aid for those trapped inside. Emergency responders were also summoned from other boroughs. It was more than five hours before the last people still alive were removed from the wreckage. Aftermath A four-way investigation was quickly convened after the Kew Gardens collision. The official cause of the crash was determined to be the disregard of the "Go Slow" signal by the Babylon train's engineer, who died in the crash. He had instead reacted to the "All Clear" signal half a mile ahead. The brakeman of the Hempstead train was also criticized for leaving his train unprotected during the critical moments. The accident happened only nine months after another crash involving LIRR trains at Rockville Centre killed 32 people. The LIRR had suffered from years of underinvestment, as the cars involved in this crash were built during 1910 and their ages were typical of the fleet's as a whole. The New York Public Service Commission had prevented the LIRR from increasing fares between 1918 and 1947, despite the railroad's increased operating costs. At the time of the accident, the LIRR had already filed for bankruptcy reorganization. In an investigative report published in response to the crash, the Public Service Commission found that fatigue and a lack of proper crew procedures were elements in both the Rockville Centre and Kew