Metrolink train wreck in Chatsworth claims 25 lives
A Metrolink commuter train traveling northbound from Los Angeles collided with an oncoming freight train near Chatsworth on Friday, killing at least 25 passengers and crew members and injuring 135. Of the 81 people taken to the hospital with injuries from the Chatsworth train crash, at least 40 were listed in critical condition as of Saturday.
According to a spokeswoman for Metrolink, the two trains collided on a stretch of track in the San Fernando Valley near a 500 foot long tunnel. There is a siding near the tunnel where the Metrolink train can wait in order to allow the freight train to pass. However, the spokeswoman said that the Metrolink engineer driving the commuter train failed to stop at a red light alerting him to the oncoming train.
A local television station covering the Chatsworth train accident said that it had received reports from two teenage train aficionados who claim to have received text messages from the engineer just minutes before the train crash took place. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating these reports, but had yet to rule on the cause of the crash.
The 25 reported deaths from the Chatsworth train crash make it the worst train accident in southern California in the last 50 years. Officials say that a total of 222 passengers and crew were riding on the Metrolink train at the time the accident occurred.