Commuter Train Crash
 

Obviously a tragedy when 9 people die, but the interesting thing from the blurb I just read is that they believe the car that was on the tracks was parked there intentionally.

good God. Is life imitating "24" now?

I haven't heard anything about it being intentional, but the TV stations out here are all a-flutter with "oh, the humanity!" and there have been comments to the effect that the car was unoccupied at the time of the crash, and that the driver/owner (not sure if there's a distinction) is being held for questioning related to the crash.

And if it turns out it was intentional, five bucks says the politicians rush to close the barn door now that the horse is out, and passes some sort of legislation prohibiting the sale of a motor vehicle without six forms of photo ID, a genetic sample, a background check, and your great-great-grandmother's maiden name.

All in the name of protecting the people, of course.

GLENDALE, California (CNN) -- A commuter train crash and derailment killed at least nine people, including a sheriff's deputy, on Wednesday outside Los Angeles, fire officials said.

A spokeswoman for the commuter line, Metrolink, said a Metrolink train hit a parked car at a railroad crossing, ran into another Metrolink train and crashed into a parked Union Pacific train.

"It didn't appear that the vehicle had stalled," Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca told The Associated Press. "It appears that it was deliberately placed there."

Baca said authorities were speaking with the driver.

The number of passengers involved in the derailment in Glendale, California, is not known.

Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams said more than 100 people are injured.

A law enforcement official identified one of the dead as Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy James Tutino, a 23-year-veteran, who was on his way to work.

Chris Gray, chief of the Glendale Fire Department, said more than 75 agencies are involved in the rescue and recovery, including some from Pasadena and Burbank.

Videotape shows Metrolink passenger train cars on their sides with shattered windows and the metal sheeting peeled backward and crushed inward.

The footage also shows several overturned orange Union Pacific rail cars.

Firefighters are struggling to reach Metrolink passengers believed to be trapped, placing ladders against the debris to get into the cars.

Gray said one area of twisted wreckage needs more inspection because authorities are not certain all accident victims are out.

Because commuter trains are involved it is difficult to determine who the passengers are and how many had boarded, Gray said.

The National Transportation and Safety Board will take over the investigation. Relatives can call (818) 548-6464 for additional information.

Yeah, I saw that on CNN.com a moment ago. I had heard that someone was being held for questioning, but this is the first I had heard that they thought it might be intentional.

did this happen on 24? If so, the show should be cancelled.

1st episode of the season. A commuter train derailed after it hit a car that was packed with explosives and left on the tracks. Bad guys wanted to get a piece of DoD equipment that was on board the train.

And just out of curiousity... why do you think the show should be cancelled?

Because it's a bad influence, obviously.

I'm sensing sarcasm on his part...

yeah, that was sarcasm... after all, we need more things to complain to the FCC about than just swearing on comedy central, right?

Police are now saying the individual was suicidal, but changed his mind, exited his car and watched as the train hit the car.

Speechless.

That makes sense, since I was wondering how they would have the owner in custody so quickly. I figured if it was a true suicidal bomber-type, he would have stayed in the car, or someone who actually wanted to get away with it would have taken off.

That's just awful. If he didn't have a good reason to kill himself before, he sure has one now.

Does California have the death penalty?

If not, now would be a good time to reinstate it.

Now that would be irony for the suicidal guy with second thoughts. Light-years more ironical than rain on your wedding day...

Scott Peterson tells me that yes, Cali does in fact have the death penalty...

This happened a few miles away from where I live last year : guy decided to kill himself by parking on a train line - killed himself and six others.

It can only make things worse for the people who lose friends/family to know that the only reason they've gone is because some asshole wants to kill themself and is so selfish/dumb they can't find a way to do it without taking others with them...

people (psycho people...) are so fucking stupid and selfish sometimes.

Its the same thign when someone jumps off a bridge onto a motorway.

Or even worse when dumbass kids drop stones & eggs from bridges onto motorway (there was a documentary about this a few years go).

freakin nuts.

They might not do that, but they will probably spend ungodly amounts of miney to secure all railroad crossings across the United States because of one dumbass.

The guy had stab wounds to his chest and and had signs that he had slashed his wrists. No way does he get the death penalty since they'll claim insanity or depression or whatnot.

I was watching the aftermath here since it's like 15 miles from my house and the local newspeople were first claiming that the trains sideswiped each other. Scary stuff

I don't think a jury will be particularly sensitive to that. He had tried to commit suicide, and decided he wanted to live after all. He didn't give that same choice to the 10+ who died because of his actions.

I guarantee you if this goes to trial, that will be a point the DA hammers home repeatedly.

ID seen the headline online earlier but never read it then heard about the guy on the radio, what a freakn fruitloop, said they found him muttering on about how sorry he was..if he had stab wounds and slashed wrists already, ya think he wouldve gotten the damn clue. Isnt it supposed to be more dangerous for the people in the car in train accidents? or is that moreso freight trains?
as for the morons who drop things off bridges, ughh..having the man here out on the road all the time well those people really freak me out:(

Wow...read about this all day, but this is the first chance I got to respond here.

I was actually on that very line less than a month ago. Heck, I might have been on one of the very trains that derailed. Of course, a lot of Metrolink riders can make that claim, but it's a little bit creepy all the same. That line runs right by my work, and I was probably inside when the doomed westbound train passed by this morning.

One story I read had a quote from one guy who said someone's head fell in his lap. I'm not sure if that was just misleading writing, or if someone's actual decapitated head ended up in the guy's lap. That's just awful.

Very tragic local loss (although it sounds funny to say that when you have things like tsunamis wiping out whole countries elsewhere).

I enjoyed my rise on the Metrolink a month ago, but it's way too expensive. I can't see this tragedy helping things any, of course.

CR

They are going for the death penalty. I really didn't figure they'd be able to pin the required special circumstance tag to him. This morning the DA announced they were filing manslaughter charges with the special circumstance of "Death by Train Derailment". Apparently we have at least one damn insightful legislator or a generic special circumstance that allows for customization.

One of the girls from work was on the train. She's ok, just some scrapes and bruises.

I agree wih your point that he didn't give any choice to those who died, but my guess is that he didn't decide that 'he wanted to live after all' -- he probably decided it would 'hurt like a mother.'

They are saying because he made the the decision to get out the vehicle and not commit suicide that his ability to reason will throw out him pleading insanity.

One of the people who died was a poster on the UCLA Scout site and fairly well known there. Very tragic. 6 pages of outpouring support on the board for his family

Very sad.

Boy, us Americans love our mob mentality. BURN HIM!

One of the others who died was the son of a teacher where my fiancee teaches.

Well, 10 counts of murder were filed with one more coming because they found a body last night. It's a special circumstances case as California law has a provision that death resulting in a purposeful train derailment as a Special Circumstance.

hxxp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-message29jan29,0,6411024.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Touching story from that train crash

You're right, we should all take just him out for pizza instead.