(The following report appeared at CNN.com on January 26.)
GLENDALE, Calif. — A commuter train crash and derailment killed at least nine people, including a sheriff’s deputy, on Wednesday outside Los Angeles, fire officials said.
A spokeswoman for the commuter line, Metrolink, said a Metrolink train hit a parked car at a railroad crossing, ran into another Metrolink train and crashed into a parked Union Pacific train.
The number of passengers involved in the derailment in Glendale, California, is not known.
Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams said more than 100 people are injured.
A law enforcement official identified one of the dead as Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy James Tutino, a 23-year-veteran, who was on his way to work.
Chris Gray, chief of the Glendale Fire Department, said more than 75 agencies are involved in the rescue and recovery, including some from Pasadena and Burbank.
Videotape shows Metrolink passenger train cars on their sides with shattered windows and the metal sheeting peeled backward and crushed inward.
The footage also shows several overturned orange Union Pacific rail cars.
Firefighters are struggling to reach Metrolink passengers believed to be trapped, placing ladders against the debris to get into the cars.
Gray said one area of twisted wreckage needs more inspection because authorities are not certain all accident victims are out.
Because commuter trains are involved it is difficult to determine who the passengers are and how many had boarded, Gray said.
The National Transportation and Safety Board will take over the investigation. Relatives can call 818-548-6464 for additional information.