MARCH 28, 2015
A vehicle turning onto USC’s campus was struck by an Expo
Line train on Exposition Boulevard at 10:48 a.m. on Saturday, leaving 21
injured and two in critical condition.
The car, a Hyundai Sonata, was driving eastbound on
Exposition Boulevard and made an improper left turn into Gate 1 of the
University Park campus when an eastbound train struck the driver’s side door.
The driver of the car was cut out of the vehicle using the jaws of life and
transported to California Hospital Medical Center. Officials say the driver is
in grave condition.
The train, which was going an average speed of 35 mph, was
partially derailed during the collision. Train passengers were evacuated and
treated for injuries at the scene. Ten passengers were transported to a
hospital, eight with minor injuries. The train operator is in critical
condition.
Sophia Ortega, a freshman majoring in communication who
lives in the Arts & Humanities Residential College at Parkside,
witnessed the crash from her dorm room window.
“I heard a really loud crash, and I looked out my window and
saw the first car of the Metro just veer off the track and onto Exposition and
a car was totally smashed into the side of the train,” Ortega said. “Then
firefighters used jaws of life to take the entire roof of the car off and pull
out the driver.”
Exposition Boulevard and Gate 1 have been closed
indefinitely.
The collision is under investigation by LAPD and the Los
Angeles County Sheriff Department, which has jurisdiction over the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority. The Dept. of Public Safety is assisting with traffic
control.
Exposition Park is expecting 50,000 visitors to the area
this evening when the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosts a soccer match
between Mexico and Ecuador. According to Metro Rail Project
Coordinator Michael Tomas, Metro will provide buses to bring game
attendees the length of the track that is out of service.
Source: dailytrojan.com
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Twenty-one people were injured, one car driver gravely, on
Saturday morning after a Metro light-rail train collided with one
vehicle near USC, Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said.
The crash was reported about 10:50 a.m. in the 900
block of Exposition Boulevard, near Vermont Avenue, according to Shawn Lenske,
spokesman for the LAFD.
Firefighters extricated the driver of the vehicle, who was
in grave condition after the incident. The Expo Line train operator was in
critical condition. 19 others suffered minor injuries, the Fire Department said.
Ten of the injured, including the driver and train operator,
were transported to hospitals, Lenske said.
Officials initially said two vehicles had collided with the
train.
Personnel from the police, sheriff’s and fire
departments and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority responded to the
scene and established a unified command.
The cause of the collision was not immediately known, but we
are certain has to do with reckless or careless drivers. The train can only move along its tracks – it
is the car drivers who try to beat the trains or fail to observe the signs or make illegal or improper turns or fail listen
to the warnings – to their detriment and unfortunately cause mass injuries to innocent victims. It is impossible for society to protect itself from such drivers, same way we could not do much to protect the mass murdering of the 149 people on board the Lufthansa Airbus by a deranged German pilot.
Source:ktla.com