At least 28 people were injured early Tuesday when a Los Angeles-bound commuter train smashed into a truck stuck on the tracks, but there were no reported fatalities, authorities said.
The stranded vehicle exploded into a fireball after being hit by the four passenger cars and the locomotive pushing the Metrolink train, a fire department official said.
Three passenger cars came to rest on their side after flying off the tracks near Oxnard, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Los Angeles, a spokesman for Metrolink said.
A total of 48 passengers and three crew were on board the train when it crashed, at around 5:45 am (1345 GMT). Twenty-eight people were being treated at hospital, with four in critical condition, officials said.
The driver of the truck fled the vehicle -- which was ripped into two by the impact -- and was later arrested, a fire department official said.
Fire Department spokesman Joe Garces said the driver of the train had spotted the truck and had begun slowing down before the crash.
"We do not know yet the exact speed the train was traveling at impact but the emergency protocols had been initiated before the incident," Garces told KTLA television.
A passenger on board the train told of panic as the train raced through the fireball caused by the explosion.
"As I was coming through the crossing I had a feeling of death come over me," Joel Bingham told KTLA.
"I thought 'Oh my god, we could die.'
"We went from 60 mph to a stop and we all lived. I can't believe it," he added.
The three toppled cars are reported to have been fitted with a crash energy management system, which prevents crumpling of the carriages by absorbing the force of impact. They remained intact after the accident.
A Metrolink spokesman said the engineer and conductor of the train were among those injured.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates serious rail, road and aviation accidents, wrote on Twitter that it would launch a probe into the train wreck.
"NTSB launching team to rail accident in Oxnard, CA. More details to come," it said.
Metrolink said on Twitter that train services has been suspended between Oxnard and the neighboring town of Camarillo.
It urged commuters to find other ways of getting to work.
"Please consider using alternate transportation. We are reaching out to bus agencies for assistance. Buses not available at this time," Metrolink tweeted.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Metrolink rail line, which has seen two multi-fatality crashes over the past decade, has made a renewed push to improve safety and restore public confidence.
In 2008, 25 people were killed when a Metrolink train crashed head on into a freight train in the Los Angeles district of Chatsworth, the deadliest accident in Metrolink's history.
At least 28 people were injured early Tuesday when a Los Angeles-bound commuter train smashed into a truck stuck on the tracks, but there were no reported fatalities, authorities said.
The stranded vehicle exploded into a fireball after being hit by the four passenger cars and the locomotive pushing the Metrolink train, a fire department official said.
Three passenger cars came to rest on their side after flying off the tracks near Oxnard, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Los Angeles, a spokesman for Metrolink said.
A total of 48 passengers and three crew were on board the train when it crashed, at around 5:45 am (1345 GMT). Twenty-eight people were being treated at hospital, with four in critical condition, officials said.
The driver of the truck fled the vehicle — which was ripped into two by the impact — and was later arrested, a fire department official said.
Fire Department spokesman Joe Garces said the driver of the train had spotted the truck and had begun slowing down before the crash.
“We do not know yet the exact speed the train was traveling at impact but the emergency protocols had been initiated before the incident,” Garces told KTLA television.
A passenger on board the train told of panic as the train raced through the fireball caused by the explosion.
“As I was coming through the crossing I had a feeling of death come over me,” Joel Bingham told KTLA.
“I thought ‘Oh my god, we could die.’
“We went from 60 mph to a stop and we all lived. I can’t believe it,” he added.
The three toppled cars are reported to have been fitted with a crash energy management system, which prevents crumpling of the carriages by absorbing the force of impact. They remained intact after the accident.
A Metrolink spokesman said the engineer and conductor of the train were among those injured.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates serious rail, road and aviation accidents, wrote on Twitter that it would launch a probe into the train wreck.
“NTSB launching team to rail accident in Oxnard, CA. More details to come,” it said.
Metrolink said on Twitter that train services has been suspended between Oxnard and the neighboring town of Camarillo.
It urged commuters to find other ways of getting to work.
“Please consider using alternate transportation. We are reaching out to bus agencies for assistance. Buses not available at this time,” Metrolink tweeted.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Metrolink rail line, which has seen two multi-fatality crashes over the past decade, has made a renewed push to improve safety and restore public confidence.
In 2008, 25 people were killed when a Metrolink train crashed head on into a freight train in the Los Angeles district of Chatsworth, the deadliest accident in Metrolink’s history.
