Two people were killed and about 265 others were injured when a freight train crashed head-on into a stopped commuter train south of Los Angeles on Tuesday, officials said. The accident crumpled one passenger car and sent people flying out of their seats.
The accident, the second deadly rail mishap in the United States in five days, occurred at about 11 a.m. EDT in Placentia, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Miller said out of about 300 passengers on the Metrolink commuter train, 162 were taken to hospitals for treatment, along with two crew members from the freight train. Others, classified as "walking wounded" were treated at the scene. Two men, both commuters, died in the accident, including Robert Kube, 59, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The second man, who was not identified, died later at a local hospital. About 20 of the more seriously injured were rushed to area hospitals and several were listed in critical condition.
Witnesses described bodies flying at the time of impact and there was an unconfirmed report that an engineer from the freight train leaped from his cab just before the crash.
Officials at first thought the freight train had rear-ended the passenger train but later they said it was a head-on crash as the locomotive of the passenger train was at the rear.
According to reports from the scene, Metrolink train 809, which left Riverside at 7:29 a.m. PDT, was about 3 minutes from the station when it came to a full stop on the tracks. The freight train reportedly began frantically slowing after it came around a corner.
(China Daily April 24, 2002)
