Bassam Sayegh, of Yonkers, says that he is lucky to be alive after being in a crash with a train.

Sayegh, 59, and his wife Randa were driving home in New Jersey Sunday morning when their car was hit by a Rockland-bound New Jersey Transit train at the Midland Avenue railroad crossing in Elmwood Park.

Sayegh said the first gate never came down and that they drove into the train's path.

He says he was thrown 30 feet and knocked unconscious. He suffered cuts, bruises and a leg injury that required more than 60 stitches. The impact also ripped off the front passenger door of their vehicle, spinning the car around.

In a statement, New Jersey Transit said, "The engineer observed the vehicle going around the safety gates onto the tracks as he approached this grade crossing and immediately applied the emergency brakes before striking the vehicle."

Officials say 41 seconds elapsed between when the safety gates activated and the train's impact with the Sayeghs' car, far exceeding federal safety regulations.