Commuter train hits car, derails, injuring 21 in LA - Columbus Dispatch

View Slideshow Request to buy this photoIRFAN KHAN | LOS ANGELES TIMES Firefighters and other emergency workers gather the wounded after a commuter train struck a car and derailed near downtown Los Angeles. The crash occurred about 11 a.m. yesterday.

LOS ANGELES — A regional commuter train struck a car that turned in front of it near the University of Southern California campus Saturday, derailing into a major street and injuring 21 people, two of them seriously.

The car, a silver Hyundai Sonata, was left crumpled and pinned against a pole alongside the tracks by the collision about 11 a.m. local time, according to a witness.

The lead train car jumped the tracks, crashed through a metal fence and across a median before coming to rest in the middle of Exposition Boulevard.

The operator of the three-car Metrolink train suffered serious injuries, said Donald Frazeur, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department. He said the driver of the Sonata, a man who had to be removed from his car with the Jaws of Life tool, was in grave condition.

Nineteen other people suffered minor injuries, and 10 of them were taken to hospitals, Frazeur said. Emergency responders set up a triage area on a lawn in front of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Authorities said an initial investigation showed that both the train and the Sonata were traveling east on Exposition Boulevard when the Sonata turned in front of the train and was struck. The lead train car was knocked off the tracks when the Sonata became wedged against the pole.

Officials said an investigation would determine how fast the train was going at the time of the collision, but typically they travel through that stretch of track at about 35 mph.