LA Train Crash Kills 25, Cause Unclear
Amidst conflicting accounts of what may have caused a head-on train collision in suburban Los Angeles that killed 25 and injured more than 130 others on Friday, two teens told a local television station that they had been text-messaging with one of the train engineers just before the crash.
Although initial reports blamed human error, saying that the engineer of a commuter train that crashed head-on into a freight train on the same track had not stopped at a red signal, officials now say that conclusion was premature, according to the Los Angeles Times. Investigators are looking at whether signal that should have shown red was working properly and, if so, whether the engineer ignored it, the newspaper writes.
Investigators also are following up on claims by two teenagers that they were text-messaging with the engineer just before the collision, CNN reports.
A Metrolink spokeswoman who told the media that the train engineer made a mistake has resigned after MTA board members said she spoke prematurely, the Times article says.
The Metrolink admission of fault on Saturday was a “rare move,” states the California Injury Blog, which notes that the crash was the worst train accident in Southern California in more than 50 years.
Accident investigation pros from the National Transportation Safety Board who are now on the scene, however, “know it’s too early to pinpoint the cause or assign blame,” the blog states, and are reserving their judgment until their work is complete.
Meanwhile, local personal injury lawyers are hard at work seeking a share of the litigation expected to result from the deadly crash. Among the numerous outreach efforts by lawyers seeking clients is a press release from law partners Eric Maier and Louis Shoch, who “offered their prayers and sympathy for the victims of the collision and for their families, and … vowed to pursue answers and justice on their behalves.”
