TRAIN CRASH KILLS 25; INJURES SCORES OF PEOPLE
On September 12, 2008, in Chatsworth, a district of Los Angeles, CA, a Metrolink train carrying 220 passengers collided with a Union Pacific freight train killing 25 people and injuring 135. The freight train pushed the engine back into the coach train crushing it like an accordion.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials have not yet made an official determination of the cause of the collision, but media reports indicate that the engineer may have missed a red signal. Reportedly, when the engineer proceeded past the red signal, the Metrolink dispatcher in Pomona, CA called the train and reached the conductor, but by then, it was too late, the train had already crashed. The NTSB dispatched 11 investigators to unravel the chain of events which lead to the deadly crash.
Train operators’ inattention is a major cause of train accidents. According to reports, two teenage boys told CBS2-TV that they received a text message from the engineer shortly before the crash. The NTSB has stated that it plans to subpoena the cell phone records of the teens and the engineer.
This was one of the worst train crashes Southern California has ever seen and the efforts of the search and rescue workers who tirelessly worked on site to look for and treat survivors should be commended.
If you or your loved ones have suffered injuries as a result of a train crash, please contact the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll.
