CLEVELAND, April 23 — Members of the BLE Safety Task Force are being dispatched to Southern California where a Metrolink commuter train collided with a BNSF freight train during morning rush hour.
The accident took place in Placentia, Calif., and at least one person is confirmed dead and more than 250 others are injured, some seriously.
Initial wire service reports from the scene indicated that the Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train rear-ended the Metrolink commuter train about 8:10 a.m., but authorities later indicated that the trains hit head-on.
The impact buckled one of the cars on the passenger train and caused two others to jump the tracks, authorities said. There was no fire.
The passenger train was bound from Riverside to San Juan Capistrano, said Sharon Gavin, a Metrolink spokeswoman.
Capt. Steve Miller of the Orange County Fire Authority told MSNBC TV that most of the victims were “walking wounded” who were able to leave the train under their own power.
Thirty ambulances were dispatched to the scene, and dozens of stretchers were arrayed alongside the tracks as authorities began removing the injured to a hastily established triage center.
Metrolink, Southern California’s regional commuter rail service, is in its 10th year of service.