A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trolley driver was killed Wednesday after two trains collided at the height of rush hour in Newton, according to the woman’s father.

The operator was Terrese Edmonds of South Boston, said her father, Terry Jones. Edmonds, 24, had been on the job since August, he said.

The crash — involving two outbound three-car trolleys — happened on the MBTA’s Green Line D branch near the Woodland stop at about 6 p.m. Wednesday. Both trolleys were derailed in the collision, and some cars’ wheels were ripped off in the crash.

Crews worked for hours to free the driver’s body from the twisted wreckage. Her father told reporters gathered at Newton-Wellesley Hospital that his daughter was the driver and she had died in the crash. The woman’s name and age have not been released.

“I have no information on the speed of the second train. We do know that the first train had made a stop at the red signal, as all trains do prior to advancing toward Woodland station. That first train had started moving toward Woodland when it was struck from behind,” MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said.

Pesaturo said several passengers were also injured in the crash, and one passenger was flown by helicopter to a Boston hospital.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital, located just a half mile from the crash, said they were treating 10 patients for serious, but non life-threatening, injuries. Five passengers were treated at the scene and the trolleys’ three other operators were not injured, Pesaturo said.

Passengers described a confused scene in the immediate aftermath of the crash, with some passengers screaming and small fires breaking out on the side of the train.

Barry Gallup, a passenger on one of the trains, said his trolley was rear-ended by another trolley between the Woodland and Waban stops. He said he was thrown forward in the collision, and both knees on his pants were ripped.

Image: Boston Globe Staff/Dina Rudick

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