The truck that was sitting on the tracks at an intersection at 5th Street and Rice Avenue in Oxnard erupted into a ball of flames, completely demolishing the vehicle. Metrolink spokesman Jeff Lustgarten told the LA Times four cars were derailed, three falling on their sides. The driver of the truck fled the scene but was later apprehended a mile away by police.
A Metrolink official said three of the cars were equipped with a “Crash Energy Management” system meant to absorb and distribute the shock of the crash away from the passengers. The fourth car, called a “bicycle” car was not equipped with the technology.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a tweet that they were aware of the incident and were gathering information. The NTSB has made a decision to send a team to California, according to CNN. They will be wanting to talk to the driver of the truck, as well as the engineer, who was injured in the crash.
Metrolink was the first railroad in the United States to install inward-facing video cameras to monitor activities in its locomotives and in 2010, was the first commuter train railroad to introduce passenger cars with advanced energy absorption features (called Crash Energy Management, or CEM technology). The train windows are also designed so that emergency personnel can easily open them and move passengers to safety.
Four of the injured passengers are listed in critical condition. According to CNN, they have been told that the majority of the injuries were “head and neck” injuries, with a few passengers having suffered broken bones. The train was headed for Los Angeles, about 65 miles away when the accident occurred at 5:55 a.m. California time.
