SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — An Amtrak engineer averted tragedy Saturday when he spotted a stranded minivan on the tracks near San Onofre and slowed his train enough to avoid injuries to the 170 passengers aboard, according to the Orange County Register.
The San Diego-bound Pacific Surfliner struck a white Toyota Previa after its driver spun out of control on the San Diego (I-5) Freeway, plunged down a steep bank 75 feet and came to rest on the tracks.
Witnesses said the driver escaped from the van just seconds before the train struck, dragging the vehicle nearly 400 feet before it exploded into a ball of flames.
Park rangers at the entrance to San Onofre State Beach, about a half-mile from where the collision occurred, said they were shocked when they saw the car fly from the freeway. The driver, identified by authorities as Taranati Ramla, 49, of Los Angeles, got out of the minivan unharmed. When the train came barreling down the tracks moments later, the park rangers grabbed their first-aid kits and scrambled to the scene.
“I ran out on the tracks to see if anyone else was there,” said park aide Mike Longobardo of Dana Point. “She said no one else was in the car, but she was pretty dazed. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a kid in the car.”
Longobardo said he got as close to the flaming minivan as possible without getting burned to see if it was empty.
It took the San Onofre Fire Department less than five minutes to extinguish the blaze shortly after 10 a.m., said Capt. Paul Widmark.
Passengers aboard the six-car train, which left Los Angeles Union Station at 8:30 a.m., credited the engineer’s ability. Amtrak officials declined to identify the engineer but said he was traveling about 90 mph when he spotted the car 500 feet down the line. He pulled the train’s brakes and slowed it to 55 mph at the time of the collision, said Lynn Berberian, Amtrak spokeswoman.
“We were looking out at the freeway, and all of a sudden there was this massive amount of dirt and debris flying around,” said passenger Steve Jones of Huntington Beach, whose family was headed for a day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. He and other passengers said they didn’t feel any impact, but the train just seemed to come to a quick stop. “I looked and saw black smoke big time.”
Karola Bush of Corona was on her way to celebrate her birthday with friends in San Diego. “It was a very controlled brake,” she said. “The engineer obviously knew what he was doing.”
California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Latulippe was at the nearby San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and was responding to the car on the tracks when he saw the train headed toward it.
“The car just disappeared,” he said. “I wanted to get there as quick as I could to be able to pull somebody out.” Latulippe said he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that everyone was safe.
CHP Officer Larry Page said the motorist slammed on her brakes, which put her car into a spin. “It was an unsafe turn on her part that started the whole thing.” The case remains under investigation, Page said.
Passengers were taken by bus to their destinations. It took nearly three hours to get the crumpled, burned-out Previa towed from the tracks. Amtrak officials said trains were back on schedule by late afternoon Saturday.
“The simple fact that everyone was completely fine and the woman got out of the car shows someone up there was looking out for all of us today,” said state park Ranger Scott Struckman.