Posted on 01/26/2005 6:42:20 AM PST by Pikamax
Commuter train derails in Glendale
Associated Press
GLENDALE, Calif. - A Metrolink commuter train derailed early Wednesday in this Los Angeles suburb, and firefighters were searching through the wreckage.
Television reports showed smoke coming from twisted wreckage at the scene of the crash, where two separate trains could be seen derailed.
The derailment in this Los Angeles suburb was near San Fernando Road and Chevy Chase Boulevard.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
The Chief Doctor had nothing but praise for everyone, every agency, to the point I thought he was entering the Mayor's race.
Suicide by car suicide by bomb both are terrorist actions. I hope he does more than talk.
Indeed. I am struggling to remember any real derailments on either Metrolink, or, the nearly identical Caltrain system we've got up here, in over 30 years. The biggest deals have been vehicles (and pedestrians / bicyclists) getting hit, but the worst I can recall from any of them was a one or two wheel derailment that essentially stopped the train and nothing more. This is very odd.
Glad to hear he is okay. Were you in any of the traffic back up?
Command center at Cosco. Press conference soon.
Yeah I understand the human condition but he sounds like an aggrieved family member and not the head of L.A.S.D. I'm terribly biased, as everyone at FR should be, though. The guy's a hard-core political animal, and a socialist one at that.
No....I guess a bunch of people called my cellphone...but I sleep in late....because a) I am a night owl, and b) I live 4 miles from the office.
I still have a sick feeling though.... We hang out with other train enthusiasts on Friday night a couple miles north of this location. The accident location is just north of the historic Glendale Depot.
Any identification of the driver yet?
This is a terrible tragedy. Very sad for those who have lost family, loved ones and friends.
I have wireless out where I live (very rural), too. When the desert dust gets whipped up, it interferes.
The entire system is quite slick, including the rebuilt from scratch tracks (1990s) and the signaling (early 00s).
I haven't heard any I.D. talk yet.
Glendale PD keeps referring to this as a criminal investigation on the PD radio...
It's weird that they announced the cause of the crash, at the same time they were saying they were looking for the driver.
KCAL-9 says ten now dead, 30 critically injured
By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer
GLENDALE, Calif. - A Metrolink train crashed into an SUV that was apparently parked on the tracks Wednesday, derailing and sideswiping another commuter train, authorities said. Nine people were killed and more than 100 others injured.
As the first Metrolink train derailed before dawn, it sideswiped an oncoming train, scattering railcars and sending passengers tumbling down the aisles, authorities said.
Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca said authorities were speaking with the driver of the vehicle and believe it was intentionally parked on the tracks.
"It didn't appear that the vehicle had stalled," Baca said. "It appears that it was deliberately placed there."
The exact circumstances of the crash were still under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board (news - web sites) was sending investigators.
Firefighters picked through twisted wreckage and carried wounded passengers from the trains to a triage center set up in a nearby parking lot.
"At this time, we believe we have nine fatalities," Fire Chief William Battmare said. More than 100 people were taken to hospitals, he said.
One commuter train was headed from Los Angeles' Union Station to downtown Burbank, and the other was bound to Union Station from Moorpark, Metrolink officials said.
"I heard a noise. It got louder and louder," said passenger Diane Brady, 56, of Simi Valley. "And next thing I knew the train tilted, everyone was screaming and I held onto a pole for dear life. I held on for what seemed like a week and a half, it seemed. It was a complete nightmare."
In a light rain, firefighters climbed ladders into windows of a battered train tipped onto its side.
Nearly 300 firefighters were at the scene in the suburb north of Los Angeles and 35 ambulances were taking injured passengers to hospitals, officials said.
Dazed passengers, some limping, gathered at tables in a nearby store, while the injured sprawled on color-coded mats in the parking lot: red for those with severe injuries, green for those less seriously harmed.
One of the dead passengers was identified as a 23-year veteran of Baca's department, Sheriff's Deputy James Tutino.
As the cars tumbled off the tracks, one of the Metrolink trains struck a parked Union Pacific car, tipping it onto its side, said Kathryn Blackwell, a railroad spokeswoman in Omaha, Neb.
One Metrolink car was sent twisting backward by the force of the crash, which occurred after 6 a.m. A small fire erupted, and smoke could be seen wafting from the wreckage.
George Touma, 19, of Burbank, said he was called by his mother, who was on one of the Metrolink trains.
"She told me she was bleeding in the head and her arm was really hurting," said Touma, who was searching for her. "I'm really worried because she has vertigo and when I tried to call back she wouldn't answer." He said she told him of hearing "sequential loud noises and then somebody pulled her out of the train while it was burning."
Metrolink began service in 1992 and operates seven lines, part of a multibillion-dollar transportation network aimed at reducing pollution and congestion in Southern California.
News conference on now.
I think it's very possible (what are we talking about again?) ...
Sounds about right ...
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