Battle to free survivors as 10 die in rail smash
More than hundred injured or trapped in rush hour crash
Published:
AT LEAST 10 people were killed and more than 100 left injured or trapped today when two trains collided in Los Angeles.
Rescue crews fought to free victims after a Metrolink passenger train with 222 people on board crashed with a freight train during rush hour.
A blaze broke out under part of the wreckage after the Metrolink train was left toppled on its side, trapping passengers inside with the train’s engine shoved back inside it.
“It was horrendous,” said Leslie Burnstein, a psychologist who saw the collision from her home and rushed to pull victims from the wreckage.
“Blood was everywhere ... I heard people yelling, screaming in pain, begging for help.”
Fire Chief Dennis Barry said today that firefighters were still in the “rescue and extrication phase,” although he did not indicate whether any victim was known to be alive in the wreckage.
The Union Pacific freight train’s engine was also turned on to its side, with the rest of the train splayed out like an accordion behind it.
The cause of the collision was under investigation. It was not clear how the two trains ended up heading toward each other on the same track.
Fire Captain Armando Hogan said there were 82 to 87 critically injured and 20 with minor injuries.
