| On Tuesday, April
23, 2002 at about 8:10 AM, a Metrolink commuter train collided
with a mile-long freight train during rush hour near Placentia
in northern Orange Country. The California train accident resulted
in the death of two people and injured about 265 others.
The freight engine plowed into the passenger car at the head
of the stopped Metrolink train that was being pushed by its
engine according to the witnesses. One person died at the
scene of the train accident and the other person died later.
Both railroad accident victims died of “very traumatic
injuries” according to the Orange County sheriff’s
spokesman, Jim Amormino.
The impact of the California train accident collision sent
passengers flying. The people were screaming and pounding
on the windows frantically trying to get out according to
witnesses. There were bloody and shocked passengers that exited
the deadly California train accident into the surrounding
neighborhood.
 Of
the 265 injured railroad passengers, about twenty-five were
immediately taken to hospitals with another 45 to be transported.
The freight that hit the Metrolink commuter train was headed
to Clovis, N.M. from Los Angeles carrying 67 loaded containers.
The firefighters that arrived to the scene of the Placentia
train accident carried the most seriously injured passengers
out on backboard to paramedics.
The California train accident was 35 miles southeast of downtown
Los Angeles at Orangethorpe Avenue and Richfield Road. At least
two Metrolink cars were derailed by the train crash impact but
still remained standing.
The Metrolink commuter involved in the train crash was traveling
from Riverside to San Juan Capistrano on a route serving 3,000
passengers daily. The train had left from the west Corona
station and was scheduled to stop at the Anaheim Canyon station.
The Metrolink officials do not know how the two trains were
traveling on the same track.
 A
Metrolink train travels at an average of 44 mph, weighs 450
tons, and takes one third of a mile to come to a stop. The
Burlington Northern Santa Fe owns and maintains the stretch
of rail that the train accident occurred. This is the second
collision between Metrolink and BNSF trains in three years.
The last incident resulted in 19 injuries in November 1999.
The California train accident is a very serious incident
that resulted in the deaths and serious injuries of the passengers
aboard. An investigation will result from the recent events
of April 23, 2002. CONTACT
US to learn more about your rights.
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