Los Angeles Commuter train crash

by master_jim2008 | September 12, 2008 at 04:37 pm

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Los Angeles fire fighters are working to rescue live people and dead bodies from a Metrolink Commuter train which crashed this afternoon in Chatsworth California, a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley.

At this time there appears to be 4 bodies under white sheets, and numerous others on top of different colored sheets being triaged before transport to local hospitals.

2 Union Pacific locomotives were involved in the crash and were on fire at one point. Normally they don't pull this train but for some reason today they were.

CNN has live coverage of the rescue efforts on cnn.com/live

More details as they become available.

Police and fire rescue workers pulled 2 more people from the standing car and took them to triage, and fire personnel are obviously still working to get people dead or alive out of the overturned Metrolink car.

Knowing a little about Union Pacific operations, and from new angle sky pics of the crash it almost appears that maybe the commuter train and the Union Pacific freight train hit head on instead of UP being the one pulling the commuter train.

KTLA news is saying that the trains hit head on, that one train or the other may have missed a switch. They just lifted out another body and are saying now that 4 are reported dead, but as far as I can see, the person they just lowered down is the 5th white sheet covered body. So far they're saying that at least 30 ambulances are on scene.

KTLA is now saying they have 7 confirmed deaths.

It actually appears that the lead car turned over and cut into the 2nd car laying on top of it, thus increasing the possiblity the death toll will go much higher.

UPDATE: 10 now confirmed dead and more people, dead or not still need to be extricated.

Ten people were killed and many others injured Friday when a Metrolink train packed with hundreds of rush-hour commuters collided with a freight train in suburban Los Angeles, officials said.

A commuter rail car lies on its side after a collision Friday near Los Angeles, California.

The apparent head-on collision between Metrolink train 111 and the Union Pacific train occurred about 4:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET) in Chatsworth, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles. It sparked a fire that was brought under control.
Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said 10 people had died, as rescuers continued to search the wreckage.

An estimated 350 to 400 people were on the commuter train, which was heading north, said Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell. Passengers were still being evacuated, she said. Three passenger cars and one locomotive were involved in the crash.

At least one car from the commuter train had derailed and was lying on its side.

Five victims -- three males and two females, all in critical condition -- were received at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, said spokeswoman Natasha Shows. More are expected, she said, as ambulances from the hospital remain at the scene.

The Associated Press reported that firefighters pulled passengers out a rear door and down a ladder from the toppled commuter car, which had been separated from the rest of thetrain by several feet. Crumpled and charred freight cars were strewn across the tracks, the AP said, and dazed and injured passengers sat on the ground and milled about on both sides of the tracks.

Video from the scene showed a number of injured people lying on blankets. Passersby had attempted to free some passengers from the train cars before fire and rescue crews arrived. A helicopter was on the scene, ferrying people to hospitals.

ABC new chopper is now reporting that an LAPD officer may have perished on the train.

A cadaver dog went aboard after all the fire fighters got off the train and as soon as the dog marked a spot, a flurry of activity began again, fire fighters getting back on top and passing the jaws of life in through a window.

UPDATE: KTLA is now reporting 15 dead at 10:06 PST.

10:39 PST, fire fighters hoist out another body and the hospital is reporting 5 patients are critical. The body they're hoisting out is from the locomotive of the Metrolink train. It appears to be the LAPD officer. The fire fighters set the body down in front of a line of LAPD officers who stood at attention and saluted their fallen comrad. After the prayers and salutes, the LAPD officers took possession of the body and carried it to a vehicle for transport. Before they loaded the body in an ambulance they covered it with an American Flag.

Bulldozers are now being used to cut new roads into the site so that heavy duty cranes can come in to finish the body recovery and cut up the pieces of the train to haul it out.

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times is now saying 18 deaths

master_jim2008, I like this story. It's good stuff, although such a tragedy! As I watch this live, it is hard to find any more words...

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