A big train derailment happened in Los Angeles earlier this morning. Commuter rail line. Coincidentally, I happen to be blogging from within about a quarter mile of this site today. There are helicopters swarming all over the air, and lots of sirens on the ground. I'm not sure why, but the air smells very strongly of fuel. We've closed all the windows in the office here, and it still reeks of fuel inside. People are worried that this means there is active danger of explosions or fires in the area. Outside, all traffic stopped. Nine Ten people died and at least 100 hundreds injured. Car placed intentionally on tracks. Link to CNN report, and the guys on Blogging.LA are doing updates. They've set up a relocation center in a park near here, for people who had loved ones on the train. On local news, they're telling everyone else to stay away.
Update: Apparently the gas/smoke smell was caused by a big diesel fuel spill that occurred in the wreck, sparking small fires nearby. Link.
Update 2: LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti's office responded in the comments section of a post on Blogging.LA (yes, some of our lawmakers here actually read and participate on blogs). Here are the details on the spill, and the many dead and injured, from Garcetti's spokesperson:
More than 4000 gallons of diesel were spilled in the wreck. I've posted below a letter that Eric sent out to district residents — the crash site was in the thirteenth district and Eric walked the crash site this morning:
Dear Friends, You will probably have heard by now about the calamitous train wreck that happened this morning on the border of Los Angeles and Glendale in Atwater Village.
At 6:04 this morning, two passenger trains and a freight train collided. A man attempting suicide had left his car on the track. He abandoned it before the first train hit it, but the ensuing wreck resulted in ten fatalities and more than one hundred people taken to the hospital. By the time you read this, more people may have died. Among the dead were a deputy sheriff and an employee of the Los Angeles Department of Aging.
This morning, I visited the scene of the wreck. It was horrible. The impact sheared one of the track rails in two. Emergency personnel were still searching for trapped victims.
The injured and the dead are in all of our prayers. Let us also give thanks for acts of bravery and compassion. LAPD Northeast Division patrol cars were first to arrive, and officers rescued commuters as the second train was tipping over. More than 4000 gallons of diesel fuel were spilled from a freight car; firefighters prevented a disastrous blaze from igniting. Other first responders treated the injured on the scene, and the men and women opening up the Costco adjacent to the wreck provided first aid supplies from their store and assisted emergency personnel.
The only happiness at a time like this is to see the limitless desire of human beings to help one another.
