Trains hit head-on, 1 killed, 265 hurt

Posted 1:16PM on Tuesday 23rd April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

PLACENTIA, CALIFORNIA - A mile-long freight train struck a commuter train head-on south of Los Angeles, killing one person and injuring 265, officials said. The northbound freight train hit the southbound Metrolink train at 8:10 a.m., buckling and derailing two cars packed with passengers, authorities and witnesses said. The Orange County coroner's office reported one fatality. Officials said 265 people were injured, some seriously. ``The train stopped for a couple seconds. The freight train just hit us,'' passenger Scott Wilson said. ``For me I was facing backward, Maybe that's how I ended up being OK.'' Of the injured, 25 victims required immediate care, the rest had minor or non life-threatening injuries, Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Kymbra Fleming said. One witness said the Metrolink train was stopped on the track when the Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train, traveling at about 30 mph, hit the passenger train. Two passenger cars were buckled and derailed, but they remained upright. The crash occurred about 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Firefighters, some using ladders, helped passengers out of the derailed two-decker Metrolink train and treated the most seriously injured in a triage area. All area hospitals were put on alert. Many were suffering internal injuries and broken bones. ``We also have walking wounded who self-rescued themselves from the train,'' fire spokesman Dennis Shell said. The southbound Metrolink 809 was headed from Riverside to San Juan Capistrano on a route that serves 3,000 passengers each day. The Metrolink train had left the west Corona station and was scheduled to stop at the Anaheim Canyon station. It wasn't immediately known how many people were on the train. Metrolink officials said they didn't know how the two trains wound up on the same track. ``This is obviously a very serious incident and there is an investigation,'' Metrolink spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said. Several streets in the area were closed because of the wreckage and the length of the freight train. It was carrying dozens of cars. Lena Kent, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, said the railroad owns and maintains the stretch of rail where the collision occurred. The BNSF runs 55 freight trains a day along the line, which connects Los Angeles and Chicago. Metrolink carries more than 32,000 passengers a day across the greater Los Angeles region. It runs 128 trains a day. Metrolink trains travel at 44 mph on average, weigh 450 tons and take one-third of a mile to stop, according to the commuter rail system.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/202394