Many killed in LA train crash

13/09/2008| IslamWeb

At least 10 people have been killed in a train crash near the city of Los Angeles in the US state of California, according to the city's mayor.

 

The commuter train, believed to be carrying about 350 people, collided with a goods train near the town of Chatsworth sparking a fire late on Friday.

 

"The latest figures that we have is, there's somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 fatalities," Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles mayor, said.

 

"That's probably the most serious train wreck to occur here in a very long time."

 

About 50 other people were wounded in the incident.

 

Dr Stephanie Hall, the chief medical officer at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Centre, said three people were in a critical condition - two females and a male.

 

Rescue crews put out a fire caused by the collision and worked to free trapped survivors as heavy equipment was brought in to move the carriages.

 

Julio Pedraza, a witness, said that the crash "made a terrible sound, like a bomb, a huge noise".

 

Denise Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for the Metrolink rail system, said that the train left Union Station in Los Angeles and was traveling northwest to Moorpark.

 

She said that there would normally be about 350 people on board the train in rush hour.

 

We don't know if we hit another train or another train hit us," Tyrrell said.

 

The worst disaster in Metrolink's history was in January 2005, in suburban Glendale, when a man parked a sport utility vehicle doused in petrol on the tracks. A Metrolink train struck the vehicle and derailed, striking another Metrolink train traveling the other way, killing 11 people and injuring about 180 others.

 

Juan Alvarez was convicted this year of murder for causing the crash .

 

PHOTO CAPTION

 

LA County firefighters carry an injured person to a waiting helicopter after a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train collided in the Chatsworth area outside Los Angeles September 12, 2008.

 

Al-Jazeera