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At Least 10 Dead In California Train Collision

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The Associated Press

Published: September 13, 2008

LOS ANGELES - A commuter train thought to have been carrying up to 350 people during the afternoon rush collided with a freight train Friday, killing at least 10 people, injuring dozens and trapping an unknown number of others in a mangled passenger car imploded by the train's own engine.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the death toll from the collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train could reach as high as 15. Los Angeles police Lt. John Romero says it may reach as high as 20.

As many as 40 people have been reported injured.

Firefighters extinguished a blaze under part of the wreckage and were working hours after the 4:32 p.m. collision to free people from the destroyed commuter car, toppled on its side with the train's engine shoved back inside it. Two other cars in the Metrolink train remained upright.

The Union Pacific freight train's engine was also turned onto its side, with the rest of the train splayed out like an accordion behind it.

The crash "made a terrible sound, like a bomb, a huge noise," said Julio Pedraza, 35, who lives and works at a nearby horse boarding facility. He said he saw passengers emerging from the wreckage, and he and others helped the injured, one with skin peeling off of his forehead.

"They were yelling for help and crying," Pedraza said in Spanish.

Firefighters treated the injured at three triage areas near the wreck, and helicopters flew in and out of a nearby landing area on medical evacuation flights.

Rescuers worked atop the wreckage and through breaches in the passenger car to reach victims. Dazed and injured passengers sat on the ground and milled about on both sides of the tracks.

Surgeons were sent to the scene.

Stephanie Hall, chief medical officer at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said three people in critical condition were being treated at the hospital.

"They are massive injuries," she said.

The trains collided in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley.

Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said the train left Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and was headed northwest to Moorpark in Ventura County.

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