Deadly train crash in Los Angeles
At least 12 people have died and some 100 have been hurt in a head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train near Los Angeles.
The crash derailed both trains and forced the engine of the passenger train back into one of its coaches.
Fire-fighters put out a blaze under one of the carriages and have been cutting through metal to rescue trapped people.
The exact cause of the crash - believed to be one of the worst in Los Angeles' history - is not yet known.
The crash happened at 1632 local time (2332 GMT) on Friday, at a time when the passenger train is thought to have been carrying more than 200 people, most of them commuters.
The Metrolink passenger train was travelling from Los Angeles to Moorpark, north-west of the city, a spokeswoman said.
It collided with a Union Pacific freight train on a curving stretch of track in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles county.
'Total destruction'
The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, told reporters that between 10 and 15 people had died in the crash, with more than 50 injured.
"That's probably the most serious trainwreck to occur here in a very long time," the AFP news agency reported him saying.
I heard a loud crash and I saw black smoke... some people were mangled pretty bad
Phil Thiele, Metrolink passenger
The front coach of the Metrolink passenger train derailed and was crushed by the engine after the collision. Two other coaches of the train remained upright.
Aerial images of the crash scene showed teams of rescuers using ladders to reach injured people inside the mangled front coach.
A number of casualties were treated near the scene, while some were airlifted to hospital.
There are fears that the death toll will rise further.
Los Angeles City Fire Captain John Virant described the scene as "total destruction".
"It was chaos. The injuries are crushing," he was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
Capt Virant said firefighters were trying to cut through train carriages to rescue the injured.
"They are in there removing dead bodies that are lying on top of survivors," he said.
The Union Pacific freight train was badly damaged in the accident. Officials say two people - the engineer and the conductor - were on board the train.
"I heard a loud crash and I saw black smoke... some people were mangled pretty bad," Phil Thiele, one of the passengers in the front coach, told the Los Angeles Times.
He said he tried to help one man who was pinned between seats: "I tried my damnedest to get him out but I just couldn't." Mr Thiele also said one woman appeared to have a serious head injury.
Deadly train crash in Los Angeles
MetroLink train crash in Los Angeles
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Thread: Los Angeles - Deadly train crash
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13-09-2008, 03:41 PM #1
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Los Angeles - Deadly train crash
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19-09-2008, 09:28 PM #2
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LA train crash prompts phone ban
LA train crash prompts phone ban
Train operator Robert Sanchez died in the crash along with 24 others
Train drivers in California are to be banned from using mobile phones on duty after a crash in Los Angeles last week that killed 25 people.
The state's rail regulators said the emergency ruling was a first step to improving railroad safety.
The move comes a day after it emerged the driver of the Metrolink train had used his phone on the day of the crash.
Many rail firms - including Metrolink - prohibit staff from using mobiles on duty, but the rules are often ignored.
There is currently no federal law banning train drivers from using mobile phones at work.
Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the action would "protect the public".
"What we're doing... is just a modest first step in a much larger effort to improve railroad safety."
The use of mobile phones by train drivers is thought to have been a factor in two rail accidents earlier in the year, the commission said.
Anyone found guilty of violating the new order could now be fined up to $20,000 (£11,000).
Phone records
The Metrolink passenger train was carrying 222 passengers between Los Angeles and Moorpark, north-west of the city, when the crash happened a week ago.
Investigators are trying to find out the exact cause of the crash
Rail investigators have concluded that driver Robert Sanchez failed to apply the brakes before a red light - and ploughed into an oncoming freight train.
The force of the impact drove the passenger train's engine back inside the first carriage.
Mr Sanchez was among 25 people killed and more than 130 injured - the deadliest train accident in the US in 15 years.
The US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB), investigating the crash, has confirmed Mr Sanchez sent and received text messages on his mobile phone at work, but are still determining whether he was doing so at the time of the crash.
They have requested mobile phone records after two teenage train enthusiasts who befriended the driver told a local TV station they received a text message from Mr Sanchez just before the crash.
Investigators have warned it is too early to conclude exactly what caused the crash.
Other causes being studied include possible equipment failure or the chance that the driver was suddenly incapacitated.
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19-09-2008, 09:53 PM #3Love Thailand
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there is a lot more to this story which I have watched unfold since it happened.
The driver ran through a series of lights not something an experienced engineer very familar with the track could while his eyes were diverted for a moment to send a text message to two young boys.
Two years ago his live-in boyfriend committed suicide.
It is rumoured that he was the engineer on a train that recently accommodated an elderly man who committed suicide by stepping in front of his train.
He is said to be diabetic and may have had an attack.
Whatever the cause of this horrible tradegy that killed 24 other innocent people and has ruined the lives of the other 200 passengers and their families the only fact so far is that he never touched the brakes while the engineer on the other train stood on his. we may never know the real reason, you can come to your own conclusions but mine is that this guy does not appear to be stable enough to have been in charge of a train full of people
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