Train Crash In Los Angeles - At Least 12 Dead

Los Angeles Fire say at least 12 people were killed in the crash of a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train in the San Fernando Valley.

Dr. Marc Eckstein, medical director of the fire department, also said early Saturday at least two other people still trapped in a car, but he was not sure whether they are alive.

Los Angeles police Lt. John Romero says that the number of deaths may be as high as 20.

The reports of deaths increased for several hours as firefighters continue to work on the wreck of the Friday noon Los Angeles train crash.

As many as 135 people were injured.

It is a BREAKING NEWS update. Check back soon for more information. AP's earlier history is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A commuter train carrying 222 people collided head on with a freight train wreck in the rush on Friday afternoon, killing at least 10 people, injured more than 100 and trapping an unknown number of others in car crushed by its own engine.

Firefighters extinguished a fire under part of the wreck and freed people from the suburbs Metro Link destroyed the car, which had come to rest on the left side of the train engine pushed inside. Two other cars in the passenger in the train accident remained in space.

"It was horrible," says Leslie Burn Stein, a psychologist who saw the collision from his home and rushed to pull victims from the wreck. "Blood was everywhere. ... I heard people shouting, screaming in pain, begging for help."

Firefighters worked on the wreck hours after the collision and 4:23 pm, shortly after 11 pm Fire Chief Dennis Barry said during a press conference that firefighters were still in the rescue and phase of the withdrawal, "although he did not indicate whether a victim was known is that they live in the wreck.

The Union Pacific freight train engine was turned on its side, with the rest of the train departed as an accordion behind him.

The cause of the collision was under investigation. It was not clear how the two trains ended up on the same track toward each other.

Estimates of the number of people injured varied. Fire Captain Armando Hogan said that 82 to 87 seriously injured and 20 with minor injuries. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said about 135 people were injured.

Villaraigosa said at the scene that 10 people were confirmed dead.

"This is the worst accident I've ever seen," said Villaraigosa. "Obviously injuries are mounting and therefore death."

Metrolink, the locomotive is deeply rooted in the car, the fire boss.

"We victims on the victims," said Barry.

One of the dead was a policeman Los Angeles, and later in the evening, officers and sheriff's deputies formed lines in the vicinity of the wreck and was hailed as one body was packed past.

The accident "a terrible sound, like a bomb, a huge noise," said Julio Pedraza, 35, who lives and works in a horse near the boarding facilities. He said he saw the passengers from the wreck, and others, and he helped the wounded, including one with peeling the skin of his forehead.

"They were screaming for help and tears," Pedraza said in Spanish.

Firefighters treated the wounded yard three areas in the vicinity of the wreck, and helicopters flying in and near landing area on a medical evacuation flights.

The rescuers worked on the roof of the wreck and through holes in the car of the victims. Dazed and injured passengers seated on the ground and ground on both sides of the track.

Surgeons were sent to the scene.

Ms. Stephanie Hall, chief physician in Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said three people in critical condition - two females and one male - were treated in the hospital.

"These are tremendous injuries," she said.

Seven men and one woman were taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. "We are, we hope to get through the night with all the survivors of their injuries," said Dr. Mark Morocco. Eight others were transported to cedars-Sinai Medical Center. None of their conditions were immediately known.

A male passenger told KNBC-TV he Metrolink aboard the train in the suburb of Burbank and spoke with another passenger when the accident occurred.

"In an instant, I was at my friend from the tower. It was so fast. It was devastating," he said. The man was visibly injured, but could walk with the help of firefighters. The man said he was involved in a devastating 2005 Metrolink crash in Glendale and was in conversation with other passengers during Friday's accident took place.

Trains collide in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley.

Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said there were 220 passengers on board the passenger train, with a driver and driver.

"I do not know what the cause of the disaster. It is clear that two trains are not supposed to be on the same track at the same time," Tyrrell said that erupted in tears and trembling.

The speed limit for freight and passenger trains on the part of the track is 40 mph, Tyrrell said, and if both trains traveling at the border they beaten with a total strength of 80 mph.

Tyrell said Union Pacific told her that four crew members on the freight train, which was a "local" from Oxnard and a trip to Chatsworth.

The status of the crew of the cargo was not immediately known.

Union Pacific spokesman said Zoe Richmond, than it is in California for freight and commuter trains share the same path.

"You see a lot in California, where commuter trains share tracks with freight trains," she said, adding that she could not speculate on the cause of the crash.

Tyrrell said the Metrolink train left Union Station in the center of Los Angeles and was headed north-west of Moorpark in Ventura County.

The accident occurred in an area where the tracks form a "U", approximately 2500 meters wide. At the top of the curve is 500 meters long tunnel that runs under the Stoney Point Park, popular with climbers for its large boulders.

On the north side of the rail tunnel is connected with a length of the track where trains can wait for another, said Tyrrell.

The area where the accident occurred, which is used by freight and commuter trains, has a reputation for difficulty, said Najmedin Meshkati, a professor of engineering at the University of Southern California.

"This piece of the track - 18 miles - had lots of accidents at railway crossings, many other accidents in the past 10 years," Meshkati said.

The federal investigation into the accident will be conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board, said Steven Kulm, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration. The FRA will proceed with an investigation into whether a federal rail safety rules were violated, he said.

When asked about how the two trains ended up on the same track, Kulm said, "We are still far from all the information."

The overthrow of cars is part of a Bombardier black and white coach, which are often used for regional railways. Each double-decker car is about 16 meters high and 10 meters wide and up to 160 passengers, depending on the configuration.

The worst disaster in the history of Metro Link held on January 26, 2005, in the suburb of Glen Dale, when a man parked a petrol soaked SUV on the tracks. A Metrolink train derailed and beaten the SUV, hitting another Metrolink train traveling in the opposite direction, 11 people slain and wounded about 180 others. Juan Alvarez was sentenced this year for the assassination cause of the accident.