Los Angeles Train Wreck

[star-warrior]

OMG, just read this in the news, hope our JUBbers are safe, and my thoughts go out to those injured and those families who have suffered a loss.

Deadly train crash in Los Angeles



At least 12 people have died and some 100 have been hurt in a head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train near Los Angeles.
The crash derailed both trains and forced the engine of the passenger train back into one of its coaches.
Fire-fighters put out a blaze under one of the carriages and have been cutting through metal to rescue trapped people.
The exact cause of the crash - believed to be one of the worst in Los Angeles' history - is not yet known.
The crash happened at 1632 local time (2332 GMT) on Friday, at a time when the passenger train is thought to have been carrying more than 200 people, most of them commuters.
The Metrolink passenger train was travelling from Los Angeles to Moorpark, north-west of the city, a spokeswoman said.
It collided with a Union Pacific freight train on a curving stretch of track in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles county.
'Total destruction'
The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, told reporters that between 10 and 15 people had died in the crash, with more than 50 injured.
"That's probably the most serious trainwreck to occur here in a very long time," the AFP news agency reported him saying.

I heard a loud crash and I saw black smoke... some people were mangled pretty bad

Phil Thiele, Metrolink passenger


The front coach of the Metrolink passenger train derailed and was crushed by the engine after the collision. Two other coaches of the train remained upright.
Aerial images of the crash scene showed teams of rescuers using ladders to reach injured people inside the mangled front coach.
A number of casualties were treated near the scene, while some were airlifted to hospital.
There are fears that the death toll will rise further.
Los Angeles City Fire Captain John Virant described the scene as "total destruction".
"It was chaos. The injuries are crushing," he was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
Capt Virant said firefighters were trying to cut through train carriages to rescue the injured.
"They are in there removing dead bodies that are lying on top of survivors," he said.
The Union Pacific freight train was badly damaged in the accident. Officials say two people - the engineer and the conductor - were on board the train.
"I heard a loud crash and I saw black smoke... some people were mangled pretty bad," Phil Thiele, one of the passengers in the front coach, told the Los Angeles Times.
He said he tried to help one man who was pinned between seats: "I tried my damnedest to get him out but I just couldn't." Mr Thiele also said one woman appeared to have a serious head injury.

 

[eddielee]

A terrible tragedy. As of the latest count, 17 people are dead.

 

[metta]

18 confirmed deaths already announced

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080913/ap_on_re_us/train_collision;_ylt=Am5502VHYvnmCwfKzcTje9cDW7oF​

 

[Garawr]

It's not far from me and I watched it as it was on the news last night... terrible. I ride the metrolink quite a bit and probably won't now for a while.

 

[Absolut]

The death toll is 23 now.

Authorities were picking through mangled wreckage and freeing trapped bodies Saturday, a day after at a commuter train struck a freight train head-on.

"We believe the likelihood of anybody being alive in the wreckage at this point is very remote," said Mario Rueda, deputy chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

More...

 

[AngelFromAbove]

I stay in the Los Angeles area and I ride the metrolink pretty often. I do not ride in that particular area, but that is a scary thought knowing that could easily happen to me.

 

[metta]

^
A neighbor told me that they heard that the Metrolink Engineer that was at fault was texting a minute prior to the accident. They also told me that the engineer died as well.

I think that they should make it illegal to text messaging friends while driving any type of car, train, etc.

 

[star-warrior]

I think it's either a signal or points fault, or that the control room didn't switch the tracks to keep the two trains on separate tracks.

I don't believe it is driver error, unless he passed a red light to stop for trains to pass and the tracks to move.

 

[metta]

^
I was told that he passed a red light.



http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_10456373?source=rss

>>> Update at 5:48 p.m.


KCAL 9 News reported that teens often text messaged Metrolink Engineer Rob Sanchez. They told reporters that they had exchanged messages with him a minute before the crash.

>>> Update at 5:02 p.m.


Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell denied reports that the engineer was text-messaging when he ran the red light:

"I cannot imagine a situation where a Metrolink engineer would be on a cell phone while driving a train."

>>> Update at 2:46 p.m.


Denise Tyrell said the Metrolink train was traveling at 40 mph, which is the speed limit for that area in Chatsworth.

Tyrell said it takes a train a third of a mile to stop. Signals are announced two thirds of a mile away.

The engineer failed to stop at a red signal. The engineer was on the main track.

"We don't know how this error happened, but this is what we believe happened," Tyrell said. "We believe our engineer was on themain track and failed to stop.When two trains are on the same place at the same time, something has gone horribly wrong," she said.

-Sue Doyle

 

[gsdx]

A neighbor told me that they heard that the Metrolink Engineer that was at fault was texting a minute prior to the accident.

If that is true, it will be interesting to see the outcome of all this.

People driving public and/or controlling vehicles do not need a cell phone with them. Their responsibility is to their passengers only.

 

[star-warrior]

Its time to put in a fail safe device whereby if a train misses a red signal, then an automatic breaking system is triggered to prevent such a tragedy happening.

 

[gsdx]

Good idea, but it would be a bit tough to regulate, especially since each individual signal would be different.

Isn't there a system on subways where trains are stopped automatically if signals aren't obeyed?

 

[metta]

Train engineer texted 22 seconds before LA crash

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081002/ap_on_re_us/train_collision

he received a text message a minute and 20 seconds before the crash and sent one about a minute later

So very sad that so many people died from someone text messaging instaed of paying attention to his job. Rest in peace

 

[RationalLunacy]

Is it time to use this animated gif?